Change: Forks
by Nestaron
Summary: A betrayal of trust forces an expected change upon the lives of Jasper & Edward. Are they ready to deal with what fate has in store for them? This is the 3rd installment of the Change Series.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** All Chapters have been re-uploaded with 1grammar, spelling, and story consistency changes. The Prologue through Chapter 10 are affected by this change. All these chapters were previously beta'd, but have not been re-beta'd because the overall changes were not major.

**In-Regards to Lemons/Sexual Content:** All Lemons/Graphic Sexual Content in the story have been removed. If you want to read them you will need to go to TWCS. There is a link in my Author's Profile to the listing of all my stories on that site. You will also find all current Outtakes on TWCS.

**Story Details: **This story is slash, M/M relationship between Jasper & Edward.

**Series Info: **This is the third and final story in the Change Series. Please read Change: A Journey of Struggle followed by Change: A Journey of Acceptance before reading this story.

**Prologue: Not so Warm Welcome**

The Olympic Peninsula of Washington State is home to a small town by the name of Forks. It is an area of the country that we had not visited in nearly seventy years. The last time we lived in this area was 1935. It was here that we discovered the Quileute Shape Shifters. They referred to themselves as werewolves, but they were not true werewolves. It was Forks that we, the Cullens, would be calling home for the next few years. The tiny little town was the perfect place for us due to its nearly constant cloud cover.

The past few years had been quite eventful for us. Edward and I had gotten married and we'd completed Medical school. Medical school had been a challenging ordeal, but I was very proud of myself. I was also very proud of Edward. Both of us had completed our residency requirements. It had been a test for what would be coming in our move to Forks.

Today we were visiting Forks in advance of our move. Carlisle and Esme had arrived earlier in the day, and gone up to the construction sites of our new homes. Esme wanted to be sure that everything was going according to plan. We were schedule to take possession of our new homes in just a few weeks.

Edward and I had decided to join Carlisle and Esme for the trip. The rest of the family had made other plans. The two of us had decided to drive cross country on our new Ducati Superbikes. We got numerous looks from residents as we rode into town. Two very expensive motorcycles being driven by two fully leather clad men with full face helmets would attract attention. We knew that in a town this size we'd attract attention for the first few weeks or months. We were new and new things made humans talk.

Edward and I parked our bikes alongside Carlisle's brand new Mercedes AMG. Rosalie and Edward had insisted that Carlisle purchase himself a new vehicle before the move to Forks. Carlisle wasn't a huge spender, but it didn't take much arm-twisting after he saw the new AMG.

"Where is Esme?" Edward asked after pulling off his helmet.

"She is at your new home taking measurements. It appears the contractor finished with your house early. Esme wants a new set of measurements for wall and floor space," Carlisle answered.

"What about the other houses?" I asked.

"The main house is nearly complete, and requires mostly interior work and some landscaping. The contractor believes he'll be finished by the end of this week. Rosalie and Emmett's place should be done by the end of next week," Carlisle said.

"I guess they really wanted that bonus for finishing early," Edward replied.

We had settled on building three homes in Forks. The main reason for this was that we were going to be playing older ages then we'd tried in the past. So far it had worked out very well. Alice had mostly made clothing, and hair style changes to give us an older appearance. No one had questioned our ages or even gave it a second thought.

Edward and I would be living together on our own for the first time since we'd been married. It had been difficult for Esme to accept the necessary changes, but we would all still be very close by and we'd get together a few nights every week.

Rosalie and Emmett were also going to live on their own. Their home would be a mile from the main house. Our home was a half mile from the main house, but in the opposite direction. Edward and I had insisted upon the extra distance. Emmett and Rosalie were known for being wild and carefree with their sex life. Edward and I wanted to be as far away as possible, but still close enough to keep Esme happy. Riley, Alice and Demetri would live in the main house with Esme and Carlisle.

"Esme has looked over their work and is quite happy with the results," Carlisle added.

"Shall we head in and introduce ourselves to our new co-workers?" I asked.

Carlisle led the way and Edward and I followed. For the first time Edward and I would be working together alongside Carlisle. Completing our residency had been a test to see if we could handle being around human blood. It had been excruciatingly difficult at first, but by the end of our residency I had learned how to control my reaction to human blood. I learned how to ignore it and complete the task at hand.

Carlisle had been extremely proud of us. In recognition of our efforts Carlisle organized a hunting trip to Africa. For the first time ever I got to taste lion, not mountain lion, but large African Lions. It was the best vegetarian vampire meal I'd ever eaten.

In just six short weeks Carlisle, Edward and I would be working at Forks Community Hospital. Hiring three doctors from the same family was unusual, but the hospital had been looking to expand for several years. Its attempts to lure in qualified doctors had been met with little success. Forks was a small hospital, but many of the emergency cases they deal could at times require the attention of a specialist. However, Neurosurgeons weren't cheap. The hospital had been weary of hiring a fresh face, but Edward had graduated top of his class at Harvard and come with huge recommendations from residency.

My specialty was a bit easier to recruit, but few doctors want to move to a small town with low pay. Being a Trauma Surgeon also meant that I would be Co-Director of the Emergency Department with Carlisle. We were replacing the last Director who had gotten a job at a hospital in Portland, Oregon that paid much more. Carlisle had accepted a general surgeon's position along with handling some of the director responsibilities for the Emergency Department.

Carlisle approached the Nurse's station where a slim middle aged woman was seated. She had short black hair and dark skin complexion. She did not see us approached as she expressed annoyance at the computer screen in front of her.

"Excuse me, I'm Doctor Carlisle Cullen."

Her head snapped up quickly and her face paled as she looked at us. "Well this is going to be interesting," Edward whispered.

"I am Sue Clearwater the Director of Nursing for the Emergency Department, and an Elder on the Quileute Tribal Council," she said after recovering quickly. None of us missed the part about her being on the Tribal Council.

"This is my son, Edward and his partner Jasper. They are the new Neurosurgeon and Trauma Surgeon," Carlisle said.

"Dr. Snow explained that Edward and Jasper were married, but that Jasper was going to use a different last name to avoid confusion?" Sue replied.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be using my family name of Hale. We felt three doctors going by the same last might could get confusing," I replied using my southern accent.

"We were in town checking on the construction of our homes and decided to stop in and introduce ourselves to the staff. If you're not too busy we'd appreciate a tour and introductions," Carlisle said.

"I can introduce you to the nursing staff, but I'm on shift so I will be unable to give you a tour. I can page Dr. Snow to provide you with a tour," Sue replied.

"That would be wonderful," Carlisle replied.

Dr. Snow is the Chief Medical Director for Forks Community Hospital. He is a middle-aged man with a wife and two children in college; and a native of Forks.

As we waited for Dr. Snow, Sue introduced us to the nursing staff that was currently working. "Angela Weber is the evening shift Charge Nurse, and is excellent at her job," Sue said after introducing us to Katie and Austin.

"Doctors Cullen and Doctor Hale we were not expecting you for another six weeks," Dr. Snow said as he approached.

"We were just check in on the construction of our homes, and decided to come and introduce ourselves to the staff." Carlisle replied.

"Wonderful! I see that you have met Sue, and some of the nursing staff. She'll be Dr. Hale and your right hand here in the ER," Dr. Snow said.

Dr. Snow took us on a tour of the hospital, and showed us where our offices would be located. Forks Hospital was small, but more than adequate to handle the needs of the community and surrounding area. We thanked Dr. Snow for the tour and Sue for introducing us to the nursing staff.

I pulled on my riding gloves as we headed toward our bikes. As I looked up I could see two teenage boys drooling over them. They both had black hair and russet colored skin, which meant they were likely boys from the reservation.

"Hello," Edward said as we approached.

"Hey. Are these bikes yours?" the older kid asked. His tone was excited.

"Yes they are. Are you two into motorcycles?" I asked.

"And cars," The older boy said. "I just finished rebuilding a Volkswagen Rabbit."

"You'd get on well with my sister Rosalie. She loves rebuilding old cars and tuning up new ones. Although I think she might tease you about your choice of cars to rebuild," I replied.

"German engineering is the best," He argued.

"Edward and I are both partial to British built cars. Edward has an Aston Martin Vanquish and I've got a Jaguar XKR-S," I replied.

The boy's eyes lit up like it was Christmas. "Oh wow!"

"I'm Jasper, by the way," I added.

"I'm Jacob and this is Seth," The older boy said.

"Nice to me you both, but we need to get going," I said. Carlisle had already left.

"Thanks for letting us admire your bikes," Seth said.

"You're welcome," I said. "We're moving to the area so maybe you'll get to admire the cars at some point."

"That would so cool," Jacob replied. "Thanks again."

We got on our bikes, and waved bye to them before heading to catch up with Carlisle.


	2. Welcome to Forks  Vampire Pop 9

**Chapter 1: Welcome to Forks**

The small town of Fork Washington is located on the Olympic Peninsula. More than seventy years ago we lived in the area, and met the Quileute Wolf pack. We'd learn that the wolf pack was long gone, but regardless we would continue to uphold our end of the treaty we had agreed to in good faith.

Our family had been in Forks for a couple of days before Edward and I joined them. Today was a typical overcast day in Forks. There were many such days in Forks, over two hundred in fact. This was one of the main reasons we had chosen to move to here. In the last few weeks we'd completed the move to our new homes. All that was left for Edward and I to do was bring ourselves and our bikes, everything else had already been moved.

Our first stop was the Post Office. We pulled our bikes up to the curb and came to a stop. There were a few humans near the entrance. I shut off the bike and put out the kick-stand as I examined the humans closer. I noticed that they appeared to be members of the Quileute tribe.

There were several humans near the entrance; One of whom I recognized as Sue Clearwater, the Director of Nursing for the Emergency Department at Forks Community Hospital. There were a couple of teenagers with them all gathered around talking. One of the men was in a wheelchair. He was a heavyset man with deep wrinkles in his face, black hair and eyes. Another male appeared to be in his mid-twenties. The teenagers were looking at us or more specifically our bikes. I recognized them as Jacob and Seth. We'd meet them a few weeks prior when we'd visited Forks. The last human was a young female in her early twenties. She had a slim build, black hair and brown eyes. She was very beautiful for a human girl.

"They are talking about us," Edward whispered as we got off our bikes. "Sue is telling the two men that she's seen the family out and about the town in the last few days, and that Carlisle moved into his office at the Hospital today."

I pulled off my helmet and took off my gloves before turning to look at the humans again. "Hey, Jasper and Edward," Jacob yelled at us.

Edward and I waved as the three older humans turned to look at us.

"Seth go wait in the car. Leah, go with him," Sue said. Her voiced was strained. Seth and Leah both groaned, but head in the opposite direction from us. The emotions coming off of the three older humans were deep fear and protectiveness directed toward their children. Sue appeared less fearful then the two men, but it was still there.

I placed my helmet on the seat of the bike. I sent a wave of calm emotions toward the three humans, but paid them little attention.

"The men are waiting for us to attack," Edward said with a sigh.

I rolled my eyes and turned to look at him. "You're joking right?"

Edward shook his head _no. What the fuck!'_ I thought. I was not pleased at all.

"Jacob! Where you do think you're going?" I heard one of the men say in a gruff voice. I turned my attention back toward the humans to see that Jacob was approaching us.

"I'm going to say 'hi' to Jasper and Edward," Jacob replied.

"Jacob, what did I tell you," the man in the wheelchair began, but was interrupted by Jacob.

"Knock it off dad. You're being a superstitious old man," Jacob complained and headed our way ignoring his father. Superstitious old man or not I was pretty sure that Jacob's dad was dead on about what we were.

"Hey guys," Jacob said.

"Hello Jacob, it's nice to see you again," I said.

"I was so hoping to see either your Jaguar or Edward's Vanquish," Jacob said.

"Sorry to disappoint you Jacob, but both of those cars are already parked in the garage at home. We just had ourselves and the bikes to bring today," Edward replied.

"Maybe I could come over sometime to check them out?" Jacob asked. His emotions were hopeful and eager. It was kind of hard to tell him _no_ and then have to feel his disappointment.

"Sure, but I don't think your dad will approve," I replied. I hoped that might change his mind, but I was doubtful.

Jacob shrugged. "I'm eighteen. I really don't care if he approves of whom I want to hang out with."

"Excuse me Jacob I need to get our mail, but Edward can give you directions to our house," I replied and headed toward the Post Office entrance. The humans watched me wearily as I approached.

"Good day Ms. Clearwater," I said and ducked my head like a good southern gentlemen. They may have been thinking unpleasant things about me, but I was raised to show respect regardless.

"Good day… um… Dr. Hale," Sue mumbled.

I continued into the post office and quickly found our mailbox. Using the key we had gotten a few weeks prior I opened the box and grabbed the mail out of the slot. I stuffed the letters into the inner pocket of my leather jacket, locked the box and headed back toward the door. I walked out of the Post Office and headed for the bikes.

"Are you done, Edward?"

"Yeah, i gave Jacob directions, but his dad doesn't seem pleased," Edward answered as he nodded his head toward where Jacob and his father were having an animated argument over his association with us. Jacob showed no signs of backing down and neither did his father.

I sighed, _'This is going to be a difficult few years.'_

Edward and I put our helmets back on and head for the Shell station to fill up before heading home. It was a short ride from the Post Office to the gas station. I noticed that the patrol car for the Chief of Police was parked near the entrance of the store.

"I'll go pay for the fuel while you fill up the bikes," I say to Edward. We could have paid at the pumps, but I figured one of us should introduce ourselves to the Chief of Police. The chief was leaning against the counter talking to the clerk when I entered. Neither of the two men paid me any attention.

"Have you met the new doctors, Eric?" the chief asked.

"No I haven't. I can't even remember their names," Eric replied with a confused expression that easily matched his bewildered emotions.

"Doctors Cullen and Hale," I said while approaching the counter.

"Yes, that's it," Eric said. "Oh, sorry what can I help you with?"

I noticed the chief roll his eyes and I bit my tongue to keep from smirking. "Paying for the gas on pump two, the bikes out there."

Eric checked the read out on the pump. "That'll be twenty-five dollars."

I pulled out my wallet and handed over my black American Express card. Eric's eyes looked shocked as he took the card. America Express did not give out these cards freely or easily. You had to be one of their top clients and very rich.

"Cullen? Are you one of the new doctors?" Eric asked. _'Wow I think he figured that all out by himself._

"Yes, I'm the Dr. Jasper Hale," I replied.

"But your card says Jasper Cullen?' Eric replied.

"Yes, Cullen is my married name. However, having three doctors that work closely together with the same last name would be very confusing for the staff in an emergency. I choose to use Hale, which was my last name before getting married," I replied, and showed him my drivers license which had both Hale and Cullen listed as my last name.

"Shouldn't your wife have taken your name?" Eric asked as he swiped my card. This guy was obviously a bit slow.

"I don't have a wife, but I do have a husband and his name is Edward," I replied as Eric handed me back my card and the receipt to sign. The boy was project strong emotions of confusion.

I signed the receipt and gave it back to him before turning to the Chief of Police who had a smirk on his face. "Dr. Jasper Hale, but you can call me Jasper," I said extending my hand to him.

"Charlie Swan, Chief of Police for Forks," Charlie said, and shook my hand. He gave no indication of noticing the temperature difference.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Chief Swan," I replied.

"Please, call me Charlie."

"Charlie," I replied with a slight nod. "The handsome young man out there is my husband and partner, Edward. He's the new neurosurgeon."

Charlie released my hand, "I met Carlisle earlier today when he was moving into his office. He's much younger than I expected, considering I was told he had children in the twenties."

I chuckled, "Carlisle is older then he looks but he still quite young. He and Esme started adopting and fostering all of us kids when they were quite young, and still in college. Edward was their first, followed shortly after by my twin sister, Rosalie, and I. Esme is my aunt and she took us in after my parents died. We have three other siblings, two brothers and a sister; as well as Carlisle's younger brother who are all part of our large family"

"I'm sorry to hear to about your parents," Charlie said.

"It was a long time ago, Charlie. I was quite young and don't really remember them that well. Carlisle and Esme have been my parents for most of my life," I replied.

"Is it even legal for two guys to get married?" Eric asked. '_Yeah this boy was slow'._ Both Charlie and I turned toward Eric, but before I could answer the chief did.

"Not in Washington, Eric; but Jasper and Edward attended Harvard University, which is in Massachusetts and it is legal for them to get married there," he answered.

I turned back to the chief. "Charlie it's been a pleasure meeting you, but I must be off. My sister-in-law is waiting for us at home and I really don't want to keep her waiting. She is a scary little thing, and if were late she'll make me go shopping with her."

Charlie cringed, "Yes, I can see how that would be bad. It's been nice meeting Jasper. I'm sure we'll see each other around and have more time to talk."

"Of course, good day to you Charlie, Eric," I said and headed out of the store. As I approached the bikes, I could feel Edward's amusement and humor at the situation that transpired in the store.

"That was not funny," I said as I grabbed my helmet.

"Oh yes it was, but that wasn't the funniest part. You should have heard that boy's thoughts as he tried to piece it all together," Edward laughed.

"No, thank you. I think all the hair gel he is using has seeped into his brain and made him dumb," I replied as I got on my bike.

"Interesting theory," Edward laughed again before starting up his bike and pulling away. I just shook my head and started up my bike and followed Edward home.

We arrived at our home at the edge of Fork City limits. The house was set back about a mile from the main road. The distance gave us the privacy we need, but also allowed for easy access to the house. Edward and I had chosen to build a custom home. Esme had designed it with Emmett's help. He had finally completed a degree he found useful. Emmett has a short attention span, but architecture proved to be one area he found enjoyable. This was also the first time that Edward and I would live apart from the family.

The house was complex, because simple just wasn't our style. The house gave the appearance of a small home, but was much bigger on the inside. We'd build the house on the side of a small hill, which allowed for a sub-level that was partially visible on one side of the house. It was a feature of Tanya's home that we liked.

The east end of the house was the only part that had a sub-level. It was visible fully on two sides and partially on the front side of the house. The east side was completely visible as was the backside until it connected back with the hill.

The sub-level contained our media room, which we would use for movie night that we regularly had with Alice and Riley. The room contained a complete surround sound system along with a top of the line entertainment system complete with a sixty-five inch flat panel plasma TV. We also had a digital movie project and screen that we occasionally used. The game room, which had a pool table, poker table, darts and various other games was located across from the Media room. There was also one other room that was left unfinished.

Directly above the sublevel were two bedrooms, my study, the master bath and another full bath in addition to a half bath. Adjacent to this section were the main living areas of the house. My study had a window that looked out onto the front covered porch, which led into the foyer. I had two large windows that looked out onto the front lawn, but the house was angled in a way that no one could see into them from the driveway.

A large sitting area with custom built cushioned wall seating was directly to the left of the open foyer. High vaulted ceilings gave the space a grander appearance as it looked out into the great room, and up to a small second floor. A large stone fireplace sat in the middle of the right wall of the great room. Two ornate sofas and a chair made for a cozy setting. The back wall held a set of large French doors and floor to ceiling windows that looked out on to the covered back porch and the large open backyard.

The great room opened to the kitchen and a hallway which lead to Edward's music room, the laundry room and the attached three bay garage. The kitchen was huge, especially for a room we would never use. It had plenty of counter space and an island with breakfast bar. Numerous large windows in the back wall looked out onto the backyard, which leaded into a forested area that connected to the Carlisle and Esme's home.

Edward's music room was large, nearly twice the size of my study. It had windows in three walls, one of which looked out onto the front porch. The room also held numerous paintings and photographs on the walls.

The stairwell which led to the second floor started in the foyer. It hugged the walls of Edward's music room as it curved around and up to the second floor. The second floor consisted of three rooms. The library which took up most of the second floor. It had windows only in the back wall that looked out onto the forest. The view from that room was spectacular, and the natural light was perfect for reading. There were several very comfy chairs and sofas near the windows. There was also a fireplace along the west wall. I planned to spend the cold snowy days of winter that I had off up in the room with a good book, a roaring fire in the fireplace and read while the snow fell gently outside the windows.

The other two rooms on that floor consisted of a third bedroom and a storage room. Why we needed three bedrooms was beyond me, but Alice had somehow convinced Esme that they were needed. Thankfully Esme had put her foot down when it came to closet space. If Alice had her way half our house would be one big closet. Give me a button down shirt, a pair of jeans, socks and my riding boots and I'm a happy man. Add on a selection of hot sexy underwear to occasionally tease Edward and I'm a very happy man.

We followed the driveway around as it snaked around the front of the house and on around to the side of the house where it met up with the attached garage. You could see the full front of the house as you emerged from the forest that lined the drive up to the main road. As the drive way snaked around to the front of the house and up around the side it was lined with shrubs and plants that prevent anyone from seeing into the house. The driveway continued on to another stand alone garage with five bays that held Edward's Aston Martin, my Jaguar and a Ferrari. The other two bays were just in case Edward got the itch to buy another fast car. The last such itch ended with us buying a brand new Ferrari 458 Italia.

I punched in the security code in to the key pad and the door opened to the third bay, which was reserved for our bikes. The other two bays contain Edward's Volvo and my Range Rover. Edward had gotten me hooked into buying cars and motorcycles in the last decade. I especially loved going for long rides with Edward on our bikes.

Edward hit the button to close the garage door as we headed into the house. Riley, Alice and Esme had been busy setting everything up for us. I put away my helmet and gloves, and was just taking off my jacket when I hear the soft but distinctive sound of padded feet hitting the hardwood floors. Fenris my two year old German Shepherd came skidding around the corner and then running right for me. I finished hanging up my jacket and then crouched.

"Hey boy! Did you miss daddy," I said. Fenris barked happily as he licked my face.

"You'd better keep him away from Alice," Riley said as he came around the corner. Riley and Alice had agreed to watch over him while Edward and I had been away.

"Why do I need to keep him away from Alice?" I said as I looked up at Riley.

"He made off with one of her _Jimmy Choo_ shoes in the last week and she was not pleased," Riley said.

"Was Auntie Alice being mean to you?" I said to Fenris. I rub the top of his head gently then led the way into the house to see if the unpacking was done.

"Alice and I finished unpacking everything yesterday. Satellite TV, land-line phone and high-speed Internet service was hooked up yesterday as well," Riley said.

"Thank you for taking care of all that for us," Edward said.

"You're welcome. I'm sure Alice will find some way to get something out of it," Riley laughed.

Just as I was about to comment Emmett enter through the French doors that over looked the backyard. "Jasper, we may have a problem."

Demetri entered a moment after Emmett. "It's not as bad as you are making it out to be, Emmett."

"Slow down. What is going on?" I replied.

"We found a scent a couple miles north of Forks; it was one of our kind. We followed the scent in both directions and found other trails. All of them lead to the Quileute border, but they are all a few months old," Demetri said.

"How old is the newest scent?" I asked.

"If I had to guess I'd put it at about six weeks give or take a week," Demetri replied.

"Let's hope that whoever it is has moved on to another area, but we should remain vigilant. Also, did either of you recognize the scent?"

"No, neither of us are familiar with it," Emmett answered.

"Make sure that Carlisle knows about this as soon as he gets back from the hospital," I added.

"It also wouldn't hurt to have Alice keeping an eye out for anyone thinking about visiting the area for a while," Riley added.

"Good idea. We just got here and I personally would like to be able to live here for a while. This is the first time in a while we're going to be able to act almost normal," I said.

Speaking of the little pixie she came dancing through the French doors. "Oh good, you're all here," Alice said.

We all rolled our eyes. "Like you didn't know we'd all be here," Edward said.

"Jasper, welcome home, How is my favorite brother," Alice said as she hugged me.

"Hey, I thought I was your favorite brother?" Edward said.

"Only when you aren't being mean to me," Alice said with a pout, and then hugged Edward.

"Jasper you owe me new shoes. That mangy mutt of yours chewed up a pair of my _Jimmy Choo_ shoes!" Alice whined and Fenris moved to hide behind me.

"Alice, stop scaring my dog. Beside I already figured you've bought ten new pairs and charged me for them already," I replied with a knowing smirk.

"They'll be delivered tomorrow," Alice said with a grin. I shook my head, but couldn't help also grinning at her.

"We're leaving at six, so everyone meet up here and be ready to go on time," Alice said.

"Wait, what?" I said.

"Oh, sorry... We're all going out tonight to a club in Seattle. We're leaving here at six so we can be there early and get good seats," Alice said.

"Alice, we're not going out to a club," Edward said.

"Yes, we are and don't bother arguing with me, Edward you know I always win," Alice said.

"Fine, Alice," I sighed and headed into the kitchen to feed Fenris. Fenris followed close beside me. He kept me between him and Alice and watched her carefully until he entered the kitchen.

I opened a new bag of dog food and pour some into Fenris' dish, and then filled his water bowl. Fenris went right for the dog food. I washed my hands then head back out to join everyone in the great room.

"Jasper there are two boxes in your study that you are to take to the hospital. They have a few small paintings, photographs and other items to decorate yours and Edward's offices," Alice said.

"I'll grab those and put them in the Range Rover to take with us later this afternoon," I replied. The boxes were sitting on my desk and were labeled with Edward and my names on the side.

My box contained several paints that were all had some sort of historical theme. There was one of a civil war battle, a painting of ancient Rome and one of the American Revolution. Alice had also taken the time to frame my diploma from Harvard. The last couple of items in the box were picture frames. One was of Edward and me at our wedding, which was an amazing photo that really captured the love we have for each other. We were just holding each other and staring into each other's eyes. There was also a frame that contained small photos of the rest of the family, and one frame that was empty.

"Alice, why is there an empty frame in the box?" I asked.

"I haven't gotten the photograph for it yet. Just bring it with you and I'll give you the photograph when I get it," Alice replied.

I shrugged, placed the items back in the box and carried both boxes out to my truck. I was curious about the other photo that Alice had chosen, but put the thought in the back of my mind for the moment.


	3. A Night Out

**Chapter 2: A Night Out**

Alice got her way, and most of us went for a night out on the town. In the late nineties we started going out to dance clubs to enjoy the music and of course to dance. Carlisle, Esme and Demetri did not join us this evening but had joined us in the past.

We were at a gay dance club, but there were a number of heterosexual couples, and singles out. Rosalie was getting hit on by lots of men, and it was driving Emmett a little crazy. Rosalie of course loved the attention, and Emmett's possessive side came out a bit. He held on to Rose everywhere they went. A few guys even had the balls to ask Rosalie to dance while Emmett was hanging on to her.

Edward and I were sitting at a table with a great view of the dance floor. Alice & Riley were sitting with us as we faked drinking these fruity smelling beverages that Alice had made us all buy. Long Island Ice Teas for Edward, Riley and I, while Alice had a Cosmopolitan.

"We're going to dance," I said to Alice and Riley while grabbing Edward's hand. I pulled him with me toward the dance floor and led us to a platform that was in the middle of the floor. We easily found the beat to the music and mirrored each other's movements. We moved our feet, hips, arms and our whole bodies in sync with the beat of the music. I could feel numerous eyes on us, and a number of jealous emotions emanating from various people around the club.

I spun Edward around and pulled him to me so his tight ass was pressed against my crotch. I snaked my right hand under his shirt and pressed it against his hard and defined muscular abs. He took the opportunity to grind his hot little ass against my cock, which instantly responded and quickly became uncomfortable in my tight fitting jeans.

We danced pressed up against each other for the remainder of the song. Edward turned and faced me when the next song faded in. He slid his right leg between mine and pressed his thigh up against my throbbing cock. An evil grin flashed across his face as he slid a hand under my shirt and rubbed my stomach. His other hand was on my ass, and both of mine were wrapped around his neck. The evil grin returned as he slid his hand down my stomach and pressed his hand firmly against my jean covered cock.

'_Fuck!'_ I thought, and Edwards smirked. I couldn't help the moan that escaped my lips as he groped and massaged my aching penis.

"You're evil," I groaned out. Edward continued to smirk at me as we danced and he teased me.

"I could take care of that for you," Edward teased seductively he licked his lips.

'_Fuck me!'_ I thought as I watched him tease me.

"Later," Edward said. "Right now I want to suck you off."

I know that the humans didn't hear Edward, but I'm sure all of our family heard him loud and clear. He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the bathrooms. I reached down and adjust my hard throbbing cock. I made a mental note to get even with Alice for making me wear these tight pants.

'_We're not having sex in some dirty bathroom,'_ I projected to him, but Edward ignored me and pulled us into one of the bathroom stalls. Before I could protest further, the stall door was locked and my jeans were around my ankles.

Edward crouched down and swallowed dick in one quick motion. I had to bite my tongue to keep from moaning out loud. A strangled whimper escaped my lips as he worked over my cock like an expert.

'_We don't have a lot of time so you need to cum quickly,'_ Edward projected.

I grabbed Edward's right hand and sucked on two of his fingers getting them wet with my venom. _'Finger me,'_ I thought.

Edward got the message and slid the fingers into my tight ass one at a time. I fisted his hair and started to fuck his pretty mouth. Edward's fingers found the bundle of nerves and with just a few more strokes I was blasting my load down his throat. I stifled the groan I wanted to release.

Edward swallowed down my load then stood up and kissed me. He pulled up my pants when he stood and fastened them as we kissed. I could taste my cum on his tongue.

"I'm going to bend you over the bed and fuck your tight ass when we get home," Edward said with a grin, and I groan as my semi-hard dick throbbed. One more quick kiss and we left the stall.

"Hey Jacob," Edward said as I was fixing my clothes to make it look like I didn't just get sucked off in the bathroom.

"Hey Edward, and Jasper," Jacob said. My head popped up and he was grinning from ear to ear. _'Ah fuck!'_

"Hi Jacob," I said. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt and blue jeans that hugged him in all the right places.

"Edward you missed a spot," Jacob said touching the corner of his mouth. Edward quickly rub the back of his hand over the corner of his own mouth and came away clean.

Jacob started laughing. "Well now I know for sure what you two were up too."

Edward chuckled and I groaned, and headed back to our table rather embarrassed. Edward caught up with me a moment later with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"That was hot to watch," Alice said as we sat down, and I groaned again.

"You are all a bunch of perverts!" I said.

"What was hot to watch?" Riley asked as he turned his attention back to Alice.

"Edward gave Jasper a blow job in the bathroom," Rosalie answered.

"How the hell do you know what we did?" I asked.

"I didn't it was a guess, but now I do know," Rosalie replied with a grin.

Edward laughed, "We got caught coming out of the stall by Jacob Black. Jasper was quite embarrassed."

"You should have invited him to join you guys. I bet that would have been really fucking hot," Alice said with a grin.

"He's human Alice. It wouldn't be hot; it would be dangerous for him," I said seriously.

"It wouldn't be as dangerous as you think. Edward and you are both very controlled," Alice countered.

"Alice the answer is no. Edward and I are not going to have a threesome with a human just so you can get your jollies," I replied.

Alice huffed, "I'm only stating the obvious. He's been lusting after Edward and you all night. He was watching the two of you dance."

"Watching us dance does not mean he is lusting after us," I replied.

"Maybe not, but explain why he keeps staring at you two?"

I turned my head to see where Alice was looking, only to meet Jacob's eyes as he was looking at Edward and me. The moment he saw that I'd caught him staring, he looked away.

"You're reading too much into it, Alice," I said and turned to Edward. "Tell her she's reading too much into it."

Edward remained silent. "Edward?"

"She's actually right, Jazz," Edward replied.

"You're kidding?" but Edward shook his head negatively.

"Doesn't matter, he's still human and we're not having sex with a human," I stated.

"I not saying we should. I'm just stating that he'd be eager to do it if we allowed him to join us," Edward replied. "To be completely honest the thought of you fucking another guy while I watch is kind of a turn on."

"Really?" I said surprised.

Edward shrugged. "It's just a fantasy. I'm completely satisfied with our sex life, and I don't think we need to change anything. But it is a pretty hot fantasy and it's got me hard."

Edward grabbed my hand and pressed it to his hard cock. _'Fuck.'_

If I was being honest the idea did turn me on a bit. "So let's say we were to make an arrangement with Alice to have Riley join us in bed one night, you'd be ok with that?"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Riley looked shock and accidentally swallow some of the alcohol form the cup he was pretending to be drinking. He spit it back up immediately and turned to look at me. "Not going to happen."

At the same moment Alice moaned. We all turned to see her in a vision, and I couldn't help by laugh. "I think your wife is seeing otherwise."

Edward laughed, "You still have that fantasy of having sex with twins, don't you?"

I grinned. "Hell yes!"

Edward shook his head, but was grinning. "It would wrong for me to have sex with my own brother, but watching the two of you could be pretty hot."

"I can't believe this," Riley said. "Don't I get any say in this?"

"Riley, how much do you love me?" Alice said.

Riley turned his face to Alice giving her a pained expression. "Alice I love you dearly, but I am not going to get fucked by Jasper. Have you seen how big his dick is, that shit would hurt!"

"Wait a minute," I said. "You don't want to have sex with me because I have a big dick?"

"Well that and you're a guy," Riley mumbled the last part.

"That didn't stop you and Emmett from fucking," Rosalie said with an evil grin.

"What?" both Edward and I said at the same time.

Riley groaned and dropped his head onto the table. Emmett was looking anywhere but at us. Alice and Rosalie were both enjoying watching their men squirm.

"When did this happen?" Edward asked.

"It happened during the sixties when they were experimenting with alcohol and drugs. It was when Alice and that scumbag Peter were still together. These two decided to go to a strip club while Alice and I went shopping. We dragged scumbag along as punishment for some stupid shit he did. Anyway, when we came back to the apartment we saw these two screwing on the floor," Rosalie said with a grin.

"It was hot," Alice said. I was shocked, and by the emotions coming off of Edward so was he.

"Who knew that Riley was a screamer?" Rosalie continued to tease. Riley was lightly banging his head on the table.

"You fucked my brother?" Edward asked Emmett in a tone that made me feel sorry for Emmett.

"He was begging for it," Rosalie said. I turned my gaze back to Riley who looked and felt like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"It was an accident," Emmett said pleadingly.

"An accident? Your dick accidentally ended up in my brother's ass? Just exactly how do you explain that?" Edward countered.

"We were both horny after the strip club, and smoking some weed. The girls weren't around so we watched porn and jerked off; only we got a little carried away and one thing led to another," Emmett answered.

"One thing led to another?" Edward repeated. He didn't sound convinced, nor were his emotions swayed. From his emotions I gathered that he felt Emmett had taken advantage of his brother.

"Umm... mutual blow jobs," Emmett whispered.

"I think you should shut up Emmett, you've already dug yourself a pretty tight hole," I said and then burst out laughing.

"This isn't funny, he fucked my brother," Edward said.

"Yes, Edward. We are all aware that Emmett fucked Riley up the ass," Rosalie said.

"And the two of you are okay with this?" I asked.

Rosalie shrugged. "Alice is right it was kind of hot to watch. I know Emmett isn't going to leave me for Riley."

I looked at Alice and she gave me that _I can't believe you just asked me that_ expression. "Never mind."

"Whatever, your adults I don't care," Edward said. That wasn't entirely true. Edward did care, but he was try to make everyone thing he was brushing it off.

Emmett let out a sigh of relief.

"Can we change the subject now?" Riley asked, but he still wasn't looking at anyone. I decided to take pity on him and erased his embarrassment and gave him a dose of excitement.

"Let's go dance," Alice said as she grabbed Riley's hand. Emmett and Rosalie seemed to have the same idea and took off for the dance floor.

"Are you okay?" I asked Edward.

"I'm fine," Edward said, but it didn't sound convincing. I quirked an eyebrow in challenge, and he released an annoyed sigh.

"I pissed at Emmett. I can't help but feel like he took advantage of Riley," Edward said. His statement confirmed my suspicions.

"It sounds to me like Riley was a willing participant. I don't think you can lay all the blame on Emmett. Riley is an adult and is capable of making decisions for himself. I will admit that I'm shocked. I was sure that he was completely heterosexual. I did have my doubts about Emmett, but never had any proof," I replied.

"Riley is my younger brother. He may only be a few minutes younger than me, but I can't help feeling protective of him."

"I get that Edward, really I do. But you can't protect Riley forever. He's plenty old enough to make decisions for himself, and I think part of his embarrassment came from your reaction."

Edward looked at me with wide eyes filled with shock. "I didn't… I mean… fuck."

"I might also be partly my fault for what happened. I'm always teasing Riley about doing it with the both of you, even though I'm not entirely serious about it," I said. That isn't entirely true. To be honest if the opportunity presented itself I'd have a hard time saying no.

"You just said that Riley is an adult and capable of making his own decisions. I doubt you have any blame in what happened between him and Emmett," Edward argued.

"You have to remember that all this occurred before Riley and Alice got together. Riley had also turned down all three of the Denali sisters for years. His brother is in a relationship with a man, so that could have made him question his own sexuality. He may have seen that has an opportunity to explore that side of him and see if it had any draw for him sexually," I argued back.

"I guess, I didn't think of it that way."

"If it really bothers you then maybe the two of you should talk about it. I'm sure that Alice will convince him to talk to you if she sees a vision of it helping." I added.

"I might just do that," Edward replied. "Thank, Jazz."

On that note the discussion ended and we went back to enjoying our evening. I gazed around the room at the various humans dancing, drinking and having an all around good time. It was as my eyes fell upon the entrance that I saw them walk. There were two of them. Both of them were male. The first was about 5'10" with a wiry build; his hair was black and his physical features were clearly Mexican. The other was a little shorter with brown hair and a slim build. From the appearance of their eyes it was easy to tell that both of them were thirsty. Both of them were also young looking, maybe late teens at most.

Neither of the two nomads appeared to be aware of our scent. It was likely that our scent was harder to detect because of the number of humans in here. I watched them carefully as they entered and headed to the second floor. I looked over at Edward after they disappeared from view.

"This is not going to be good if those two lose control," I said. Edward nodded, but I could see that he was staying focused on their thoughts. I kept my eyes on the stairs to see if they would come back down, but after a few minutes I turned my attention to our siblings on the dance floor. I was pretty sure that if Alice had seen things going badly here she'd have been back to the table by now.

"I think we're going to be fine. They don't appear to be hunting at the moment, but I'll check on their thoughts during the night," Edward said.

I scanned the dance floor and saw Jacob dancing with a hot little red headed twink. "I think Jacob has a thing for red heads."

Edward looked over to where Jacob was dancing and just shook his head. "I think your hair color is much hotter than that twink's hair color," I said with a grin.

Rosalie and Emmett returned to our table before Edward could respond with more than a grin. "Emmett and I are going to head out, and probably stop to hunt."

What Rosalie really meant was that they were leaving so that they could find some place to fuck. Both of them were giving off strong waves of lust. "We'll see you back in Forks," Edward replied. His response was hurried and I could see a grimace on his face as he looked at Emmett. No doubt that Edward was getting a mind full of naughty images from Emmett.

Riley and Alice joined us after the next song ended. "Rosalie and Emmett left to go have sex," I said.

"Thankfully we won't have to hear it," Riley replied.

"At least you don't have to feel it!" I added.

"I have to say that I'm surprised their house is still standing," Edward mused. That brought out a round of light laughs from everyone. Emmett and Rosalie had leveled more houses then we cared to count. I never saw the appeal of wild destructive sex. Edward and I had a very satisfying sex life without destroying everything in sight.

I turned back to the dance floor to watch the humans dance, and noticed that Jacob was no longer dancing with the red headed twink. The twink had moved onto another dance partner and Jacob was no longer on the dance floor.

"I think it's time for another drink…" Alice said, but quickly slipped into a vision.

"SHIT!" Edward said. He was out of his chair and walking quickly toward the entrance. I caught the back of their heads as they were leaving with a human. It took me a second to realize that that human was Jacob Black.

"Fuck!" I took off after Edward as quickly as I could without drawing attention. I was aware that Alice and Riley were following behind me. Upon exiting the building I quickly turned north. I flitted to Edward's side and we picked up our paces as we saw them turn toward a nearby parking lot.

I didn't see any sign of them when we got to the parking lot. "They are in the alley behind the buildings," Edward said.

'_Fuck it!'_ I thought. I flash from Edward's side to the entrance of the alley way going north.

"Jacob! What the fuck do you think you are doing?" I said in an angry voice. All three of them turned around as they saw me at the entrance as Edward flashed to my side. Jacob's eyes appeared glazed over almost like he was in a trance.

"He's ours we saw him first," Said the taller one.

"Hands off my pet or I'll rip them off," I said menacingly.

"You should keep a better leash on your pets if you don't want to lose them," Laughed the tall one.

I flashed to him and stopped when my face was mere inches away from his face. Jacob was startled, but managed to suppress the reaction for the most part. Whatever was holding him in his trance like state had worn off, "Don't fuck with me boy. I'll rip you apart and feed you to my dog," I growled.

The vampire stopped laughing. "Jacob go stand over by Edward."

"I don't think so," Said the shorter vampire. He reached out to stop Jacob from moving. I reached out at the same time and grabbed his hand and pulled him behind me into the brick wall of the building. The sound of his body slamming into the brick wall echoed off the walls of the alley.

Edward flitted over and grabbed Jacob and flashed back over to where Riley and Alice had just entered the alley way. "You two parasites get out of Cullen territory before I turn you to ash."

"Fuck you," The taller vampire said.

"Wrong answer asshole," I said and slammed my open hand into his chest sending him flying to the opposite end of the alley. The shorter vampire flitted past me and to his friend.

"Let's get out of here Raoul," He said.

"No one tells me what to do," Raoul growled.

"You should really listen to your friend. You have no idea who you are challenging, but I can assure you that I will add you to the very long list of people who have dead at my hands," I said in a low menacing voice.

"Major, they seem to be uninformed about who you are, perhaps you should enlighten them." Riley said.

"Raoul, we really need to be leaving. I've heard about this guy and we don't want to fuck with him." The shorter one said. His eyes were wide and I could feel his fear creeping upward; I decided to help it along.

"You should listen to your friend. The Major is not known for being merciful," Riley said.

"We're leaving," The shorter one said, as he pulled his friend away.

"This isn't over!" Raoul growled.

"Oh I think it is. If you value your pathetic life you'll leave and never come back here again," My tone was deadly.

"Shut the fuck up, Raoul before he kills us," The shorter one said. They slowly back away from us. We kept our eyes on them until they were out of sight. As soon as they were gone I turned my attention to Jacob.

"You should know better than to go anywhere with Cold Ones," I said seriously.

"Cold Ones?" Jacob said. He was suddenly filled with fear and then nothing as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out. Riley caught him before he could fall and hurt himself.

I sighed, "This is going to be a long night."

"He's running a fever," Riley said. I quirked an eyebrow, I couldn't smell any sickness emanating from Jacob.

"Let's take him to the Range Rover so we can get him to sit down," Edward said before picking up Jacob to carry him to the truck.

I unlocked the truck as we go close to it and opened the back door. Edward set Jacob down on the seat. Alice ran over to a nearby fast food joint that was still open to get a bottle of water.

Jacob opened his eyes a moment after Alice returned with the water. He looked at us with a weary expression.

"Here drink this," Edward said handing Jacob the unopened bottle of water. Jacob took the water and opened the bottle before downing half the bottle.

"Slow down Jake, you're going to make yourself sick," Edward said. "Are you feeling okay?"

Jacob shook his head no. "I'm burning up and my head is pounding. I feel like I'm hyper aware of everything around me."

"Shit," I said. "Who are you here with? We need to get you home."

"I'm here alone. I got a ride with my sister when she returned to her apartment today, and Leah is going to pick me up tomorrow to take me back to La Push," Jacob replied.

"Where are you staying tonight?" I asked.

Jacob blushed, "I was hoping to get umm... laid. Otherwise I was going to stay at my sister's apartment."

I sighed, "That didn't work so well, instead you nearly became dinner."

"The legends are true, aren't they?" Jacob asked.

"I don't know much about your legends, but if you are asking if your Cold Ones are real, then yes," I answered.

"We need to get you home, Jacob. I've been monitoring your vitals since you passed out. Your heart rate is accelerating rapidly and your body temperature is rising. We need to get you to your father before you phase," Edward said.

"What are you talking about?" Jacob asked. I could tell from his voice that his mind was being overwhelmed by everything going on.

"I don't know how, but for some reason the genes that controls the phasing that allows your people to turn into wolves was reactivated in you. We need to get you home so that your elders can help you through the next few days," I said.


	4. Unintended Consequences

**Chapter Three: Unintended Consequences**

**POV: Jacob**

My body feels like I'm in a sauna, and my head feels like its being overloaded with information. I can't focus on anything, but I can hear a buzz of voices all around me. There is a constant and rhythmic thumbing in my ears and it takes me a moment to realize it's the blood pumping through my body.

"Too hot," I moan, and a moment later there is cool air blowing over me. I lie down on the seat and close my eyes. I feel exhausted and it doesn't take long before I fall asleep. My dreams are filled with bright colors, but nothing makes sense in them.

The next time I wake up I'm not sure where we are, but I know that Sam is there and trying to get me to walk to his car. I can hear Jasper talking to Sam, but I can't seem to concentrate on what he's saying. I'm out again the moment I'm in Sam's car.

The sun was coming through the window when I finally wake up to face the day. I look over at my alarm clock and see that it's just after nine in the morning. I pull the sheet covering my body back and realize I'm in my boxers, but can't remember undressing. My stomach growls and I decide it's time to get up and eat breakfast. I make a quick pit stop at the bathroom then head down to the kitchen.

I walk into see my dad making pancakes. "Umm... good morning," I say a little confused. My dad doesn't normally make breakfast.

"Good Morning Jake," Dad replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Starving, but otherwise I'm good," I stated.

"You should be starving you've been out for almost a day and a half," Dad said.

"Really?" I asked as I opened the fridge and reached in to get the milk. Part of my mind realizes I had to bend over a bit more than normal to get at the jug. It wasn't until I didn't have to stretch to get a glass that I knew something was different.

I turned to my dad and give him another confused look as he looked back at me with concern. "Dad, did you move things around?" I asked.

"No, Jake. Everything is where it has always been," he replied.

"That can't be," I responded completely confused.

"Jake do you remember anything that happened in the last few days?" Dad asked. His voice is strained.

I concentrated on what happened over the last few days and then it all came flooding back. Jasper saving my life from the vampires at the club. The fever, and feeling like my body was coming unhinged; and then I remember how I had phased for the first time. I gripped the table for support as everything came crashing back into my mind.

"Jake?" Dad called.

I got control of myself and gave my dad a questioning expression. "Did all that really happen?"

"I don't know what you are remembering, Jake," Dad said.

"Jasper Hale saving my life from the Cold Ones," My dad's face was filled with concern, and some fear. I'd never seen him look like that in all my life. "I'd be dead if it wasn't for him."

"You don't know that, Jake," Dad argued.

"Yeah, I do, and so do you," I replied. "It's all true... the legends... all of it."

"Yes, Jake. It's all true. I tried to tell you, but you dismissed everything I said as me being a superstitious old man," Dad replied. There is a sour note to his tone.

"Well you are," I replied with a smile.

Dad sighed with relief as I slipped back into my old joking ways. "I'm sorry I didn't take what you said to heart."

"I was like you when I was your age. I didn't believe anything your granddad told me either. You were young when I finally started to believe what he had been telling me all those years," Dad said. He looked away from me and I could see in his eyes that so memory haunted him.

I wanted to ask him what changed his mind, but part of me knew he wouldn't answer. I pour a glass of milk and returned the jug to the fridge as we continued on in silence for several more minutes. "What happens now?" I ask.

"Most of what happens now is up to you," Dad said. He wheeled over to the table with the plate of pancakes. I took the plate from him and grabbed two pancakes. We started eating in silence, and then Dad started talking again.

"You are aware that Ephraim as the last chief of our tribe. He was chief because he was also alpha of the wolf pack. The role of alpha and tribal chief has been passed down in our family for many generations. None of your ancestor refused the position, but all were given a choice."

I ate slowly and listened to my dad. He was saying I had a choice, but really I didn't have one in my opinion. I couldn't very well be the first person in my family to refuse his duty. I didn't like where this was going.

"You would of course have the support of the tribal council, and they would guide you in your leadership of the tribe," Dad continued.

"What exactly is involved with 'leading' the tribe? And what does being alpha of the wolf pack mean?" I asked.

"Leading the tribe is exactly what it sounds like. It would be your responsibility to learn our legends and teach them to the children of our tribe. You would set and enforce tribal laws and treaties. As for being alpha of the wolf pack that means leading the pack and being in charge of the defense of our village and people from Cold Ones," Dad answered.

"I don't think learning the legends will be all that difficult, but I'm not sure if I'm near as good a story teller as you and Old Quil," I joked.

"You'll do fine, Jake."

"I want an honest answer to my next question, Dad. I think I deserve that much if I'm going to agree to be chief, and alpha of the wolf pack."

"What is the question?" Dad asked.

"Why do you hate the Cullens so much? From everything I can remember of the legends there is no indication that they ever broke the treaty; and Ms. Claire was always saying how they were different," I asked.

Dad sighed, and I could tell he didn't want to answer this question. "I don't hate the Cullens."

"But you don't like them either," I quickly replied.

"Jake, it's complicated and it's really not something I want to discuss right now," Dad said.

"Why?"

"Let it go Jake. Someday, I may answer your question but not today."

"Then I refuse to be chief," I replied.

"What? You can't refuse," Dad replied with shock.

"You said I had a choice. So either I do have a choice and I can refuse or I don't have a choice and you lied to me about having one," I answered back angrily.

"So you're refusing because I won't answer your question?" Dad asked calmly, which calmed me down too.

"Yes. You are all asking a whole lot of me. I never wanted to be chief of our people. You know that I have been saving money so I could leave and go to school like Rachel and Rebecca. You know that I want to travel. You are asking me to put aside all of my hopes and dreams to taking on a role I never wanted. All I asked for was a bit of honest to a question, which you refuse to even answer, in exchange for my agreement to become chief," My anger rose again with each word the left my lips.

"I don't hate them," Dad repeated.

"But you also don't like them. There has to be a reason why you are telling members of our tribe not to go to the hospital for help if they get sick or are injured. There had better be a damn good reason. I'm sick of all these legends that claim they are so evil, but yet are willing to risk their lives to save me. They also saved Ms. Claire seventy years ago. Evil people don't go around saving the lives of strangers. So I'll ask again. Why do you not like the Cullens?"

We stare at each other, neither one of us speaking nor eating our breakfast that was getting cold. I wasn't going to back down. Maybe I should have respected his right to keep his reasons to himself, but it sure as hell would look bad if I took a different stance on the Cullens then my father because he refused to share his reasons with me. Maybe he knew something I didn't know.

"Because they weren't here to save your mother," Dad finally answered, and tears started streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked," I replied. I reached over to the counter and grabbed the box of tissues and handed them to him. "I don't understand why you are blaming the Cullen's for mom's death. She did in a car accident nine years ago, and I am pretty sure I remember you and Charlie saying she died instantly."

Dad shook his head as he wiped away the tears. "No, Jake. Your mom didn't die in a car accident. That was just the cover story that we came up with to hide how she truly died."

"What are you talking about? I remember seeing the car. I know I was only nine, but I saw the car," I argued.

"It was staged. Harry, Old Quil and I staged it to hide what that monster did to her," Dad replied angrily.

"Who did what to her?"

Dad shook his head again. "I don't know his name, but I know his voice. I'll never forget his accent as long as I shall live. He feed on your mother, and left her body in a dirty alley in Port Angeles."

"Was it one of the Cullens?" I asked.

"No."

I sighed. "I still don't understand how the Cullens could have saved her. When they saved Ms. Claire it was because the wolf pack went to them for help. When Jasper saved me it was because he was in the right place at the right time. There is no guarantee that if they had been here that mom would be alive."

"You are forgetting part of our legends. Ephraim said that they Cullens did not allow others of their kind to hunt within the area they lived. Sam said that Jasper claimed all the area surrounding Forks and continuing east past Seattle is Cullen Territory. Port Angeles is included in that area," Dad said.

"You still can't blame them for what happened to mom. I'll be honest with you and say I'm angry about what happened to mom. I would go hunt down the cold bastard if I knew who he was, but I can't blame the Cullens for what happened to her. They saved my life, so I think you should give them a little bit of a break."

Dad nodded his head and wiped the rest of the tears from his puff and blood shot eyes. "I'm sorry that all this ruins your dreams. I know that you wanted to move to Seattle like Rachel."

"I guess I wasn't meant to be," I replied. "I agree to be chief."

"You'll make a good chief, son. Your great-granddad would be proud of you, and how you are keeping an open mind about everything."

"I'm not so open-minded about this whole phasing into a wolf thing. I hope I have some control over it, but it didn't look like I did when I phased the first time."

"Sam will teach you how to control it so you will only phase when you want to. It's important that you listen to him, Jake. If you phase at the wrong time you could accidentally hurt someone," Dad said. He has this look in his eye again.

"What aren't you telling me?" I asked.

"This time it's not my place to tell you. You can ask Sam about it and if he wants to tell you he will, but don't force him. We should finish eating. Sam will be here soon."

We ate in silence, and before I realized it I had eaten a dozen pancakes. I had rarely ever eaten more than two and now I was eating way more than that. I chalked it up to having missed three other meals. Sam showed up after my shower. I was deciding what to wear when he knocked on my bedroom door.

"Hey, Jake," Sam said.

"Come in," I said. I started to pull out a pair of jeans.

"You're not going to want to wear too many clothes. Just grab a pair of shorts," Sam said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Clothes don't shift with you when you phase. It's a lot easier to just carry around a pair of shorts or cutoffs; it'll keep you from being naked when you need to be in human form," Sam explained.

"Oh," I replied, and grabbed a pair of shorts from my closet. "Where do we start?"

"We'll head out to the forest and I'll teach you how to control when you phase. It's not too difficult after you learn the basics. The harder part is keeping yourself from phasing when you don't want to," Sam replied. For a brief moment, I saw deep regret pass in his eyes as he finished speaking, but it was quickly pushed away.

"Dad said that people could get hurt. I'd like to avoid hurting anyone, even if by accident."

Sam nodded, but didn't say anything further on the topic.

"Let's go," I said after pulling on the shorts, and discarding my towel.

"We'll be back in a few hours, Billy," Sam said as we headed out.

We took our time walking to the forest behind my house. Sam was quiet until we were some distance from the village.

"Strong emotions can cause you to phase. You need to learn to control your anger and reactions to strong emotions. If you can master those things then you will have little trouble controlling when you phase," Sam said.

"I've never had a problem controlling my anger," I replied.

"You're emotions are a lot more powerful now than they were before. It will take some getting used to, but you may not have as much difficulty as I did. Jared adjusted pretty well to the whole thing," Sam said.

"Wait, Jared is a shifter too?"

"Yes. Jared, you and me are all shifters. I think there will be more before too much longer, but only time will tell," Sam said.

"Well, let's get started," I said as we entered the forest.

"You'll need this," Sam said handing me a piece of string.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"Use it to tie your shorts to your leg, just above your ankle. This way you don't have to carry your shorts in your mouth. Also don't tie it too tight," Sam replied.

I stripped off my shorts and used the string to tie them around my leg. Sam did the same and we were both naked. I tried not to look over at Sam. I didn't want anything to pop up.

"All you need to do now is focus on being a wolf, the rest will happen on its own. You'll feel a shudder through your body just before you phase," Sam said.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember when I'd first phased, but I was sure that had been involuntary. I also didn't remember much about it. I was pretty sure I was still out of my mind at the time. I felt a heat building inside me as I concentrated on picturing myself as a wolf, and then a shudder course through me. The next thing I knew I was staring at a pair of russet colored furry paws.

'_Holy shit!' _I thought.

'_Stay calm, Jake.,_ I heard Sam voice, but it sounded like it was coming from within my head. When I turned my head, I saw a big black wolf were Sam had been standing, and I nearly freaked out.

'_Relax Jake. It's just me, Sam.'_

'_How are you talking?' _I asked.

'_We're connected telepathically. I can hear your thoughts and you can hear mine. It's that way for all of us. Unfortunately it means we don't get much privacy from each other,'_ Sam projected.

Damn, that was going to suck. I was going to have to learn to control my thoughts around Sam and Jared. I had more pressing concerns at the moment. My body felt like my muscles need to be stretched or exercised.

'_Is it normal to feel like I want to go for a run?' _I asked.

'_Yes. We can go for a short run, but we need to focus on teaching you to shift forms,' _Sam replied.

I didn't need to be told twice, and I took off running at full speed. It felt amazing to use my muscles and the feel of the wind blowing through my fur was amazing. I easily forgot about everything else going on and just lost myself in the run.

'_Jake! Stop!'_ Sam said, it felt like an order and my body reacted without me telling it to do so. I came to an abrupt stop and nearly ended up face first into the ground.

'_What the hell was that?'_

'_It's an alpha order. You weren't listening to me. I didn't even know if it would work on you, but apparently it does.'_

'_What do you mean you didn't know if it would work on me?'_

'_You're supposed to be the alpha of the pack. I'm only holding the position until you make up your mind to take your birth right.'_

'_I told my dad I would do it. I'm not totally keen on the whole thing, but I'm not going to back down from my responsibilities,' _I projected.

'_You are going to need to take the dominate role then to take over as Alpha. I'll teach you how to do that after we finish teaching you to control phasing. I also would like us to work with Jared this afternoon. We need to teach you how to kill Cold Ones, just in case the need arises."_

'_Alright, but can you not do the alpha order thing? I really don't like not having control over my own body.'_

'_As long as you listen I won't use it again.'_

Sam and I spend the next several hours with me shifting between human and wolf forms. It was both exhausting and hunger inducing. I finally figured out how to shift forms at will after doing it a half dozen times. I guess I impressed Sam because it said we'd done it enough that I had a handle on it. It also could have been because we were both hungry.

We started to head back toward Sam's house. _'The Cullens aren't the only leeches who've been in the area lately,'_ Sam said.

'_How do you know that?'_

'_Jared and I found the scent of a bloodsucker that doesn't match the Cullens, but whoever it is knows where the border is between our land and the Cullen's land. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a leech that they know,'_

Sam called up the memory of the scent and how it followed the border between our lands almost perfectly. I also noted that it appeared there were multiple occurrences of this scent. I committed the scent to memory and made a note to ask Edward about it.

'_Do we know when this vampire started coming here?'_ I asked.

'_The last scent trace was about six weeks ago, and the earliest is about three months before that, and repeats every couple of weeks or so.'_

'_This vampire hasn't been back since the Cullen's have been here?'_ I asked.

'_No.'_

Something told me that whoever this vampire was didn't know who the Cullens were, but somehow he or she had learned about our treaty and the border. I pushed it to the back of my mind to think about later when I had time to myself to really think about it.

'_This whole thing would never have happened if those fucking leeches hadn't returned,' _Sam said.

'_What are you talking about?'_ I asked. I had a pretty good idea of what he was referring too, but I wanted to be sure.

'_The Cullens, if they hadn't returned none of this would have happened,'_ Sam said.

'_I don't think the Cullens are to blame, at least not for us changing. I think it's this other vampire that is to blame. It makes more sense with what we know from our legends. I remember dad clearly stating that Ephraim didn't phase until three months after the Cullens originally moved to the area.'_

'_I can't believe you are defending those filthy bloodsuckers.'_

'_Enough, Sam!' _I said pissed off, and I notice Sam flinch back away from me and cower slightly. I think I learned how to be dominant on my own. _'Jasper and Edward saved my life. It's also not just my life they saved. We both know that they save Ms. Claire seventy years ago. Vampires might be responsible for our shifting abilities, but you all aren't going to keep referring to Cullens as leeches, bloodsuckers or anything else derogatory.'_

'_If you had to go through what I did then you'd blame them too,' _Sam argued back_._

'_Hello? Wolf here,' I replied annoyed._

'_That is not what I'm talking about,' _Sam replied, but grew quiet.

'_Then what are you talking about?'_

'_I imprinted on Leah's cousin, Emily Young, and Leah hates me. I had to break things off with her, but I can't tell her why, and so she hates me.'_

I knew from our legends that imprinting was one a wolf found their soul mate. What caused imprinting was still a mystery, but what wasn't a mystery was that you couldn't ignore the imprint. Sam and Leah had been high school sweethearts and had begun planning their future together. If Sam imprinted on Emily, then whatever future he had planned with Leah was gone.

'_Imprinting is a wolf thing, and it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't changed. We both know that it wasn't the Cullens who forced this change on us. You can't blame them for imprinting on Emily and forcing things to change with Leah.'_

'_I can't tell Leah why I left her, Jake. It's tearing me up inside, and it's hurting her.'_

'_Then direct your anger toward finding out who this other vampire is and not against those that might be our allies.'_

'_Our allies? Did you fall on your head Jake?'_

'_Hear me out Sam. There are only three of us and nine of them. Making them our enemy is not a wise move, but if we form an alliance with them we can better protect our people and they can help us find the vampire who caused all this to happen.'_

'_We don't even know if we can trust them.' _Sam argued.

'_They've proven more than once that they could be trusted. It was Carlisle who offered the treaty to Ephraim. They had no reason to do so, and they would have won in a battle against our ancestors. They saved Ms. Claire from the nomadic vampire, and Carlisle treated her injuries. Finally Jasper saved my life from two nomadic vampires.'_

'_It sounds like you are choosing them over your own people,' _Sam replied.

'_I'm not Sam. I'm trying to focus our efforts on the real threat and not on an easy target to blame because were pissed off that this happened to us. That other vampire is after something, and we need to find out what it is. Think about it Sam.'_

'_What are you suggesting we should do?'_

'_I'll talk to the Cullens and see if they know who this vampire is, and we're going to need to make sure we keep our guard up. But for now I suggest we get lunch.'_

'_Emily will have lunch ready for us,' _Sam said.

We headed to Sam's for lunch, which Emily had ready for us when we walked in the door. She'd made hotdogs, with homemade potato chips and huge chocolate chip cookies. We were also joined by Jared.

"Hey Jake, it's about time you join us," Jared said.

"Hey Jared thanks for the welcome. I'm still getting use to everything," I replied.

"It took me a while to get use to everything too," Jared replied.

"Jake is adjusting better then he's letting on," Sam said.

"Hi Jake, it's nice to finally get to meet you. Sam has been waiting anxiously for you to join the pack for the last couple of weeks," Emily said.

"Nice to meet you Emily," I replied. I noticed that Emily had three deep marks that looked like an animal had attacked her face. I did not want to make her uncomfortable about it so I didn't stare or mention it. I had a feeling that this was what my dad was referring to when he talked about accidentally hurting someone. It also explained why Sam reacted the way he did when I mentioned it.

After lunch I spent the rest of the day working with Jared and Sam on how to function in a pack. By the end of the day I was exhausted and didn't remember falling asleep. The next time I woke up it was dark out. I looked over at my alarm clock and it read three in the morning. I turn over and try to go back to sleep by I can't get my brain to stop thinking.

Finally deciding that I'm not going to get any sleep I grab a clean pair of shorts and tie them to my leg and head out for a run. I phase as soon as I closed the door behind me. I don't hear any other voices and assume that Sam and Jared have called it a night and were sleeping.

I head for the border and it was not long before I pick up the old and stale scent of the mystery vampire. I decide to see just how much this vampire knows about the border between us and the Cullens. I head north and follow the border that Sam had shown me in his mind. The scent follows the border very closely and I follow it until I reach the cliffs near the ocean north of La Push. I headed south and followed the scent and border to the southern edge of our territory. It was here that I noticed the scent headed toward the village. I quickly followed it until it divided again. One trail led toward the village and the other toward First Beach.

I needed some answers, and I knew where I might get them. I turned and headed towards Forks.


	5. Building Friendships

**Chapter Four: Building Friendships**

It had been two days since the incident at the club. I called Sue when we left the club to get someone to meet us at the border to get Jacob. Since then I had inquired with her about Jacob's well being, but all that she would say is that he was fine. Edward told me that Sue and the other Elders of the council were worried because Jacob wasn't reacting the same way that Sam and Jared had when they first phased. This only made me more concerned that we were responsible for his change.

Edward told me to stop worrying because Alice had seen things working out. This confused me because Alice had freaked out when we dropped Jacob off at the border. It seemed that the Wolves prevented her from seeing the future when their future was intertwined with our own.

"_Alice said for some reason she can see Jacob. She doesn't understand why that is or if it will change after he's gone through the transformation fully," _Edward had said when I questioned him about it_._

We were deeply involved in a chess match at four in the morning. I was doing my best to recite the Battle Hymn in every language I knew just to keep Edward out of my head. It sadly wasn't working as effectively as I hoped. Edward had still managed to pick out several of my moves and countered them.

"We have a visitor," Edward said. I really hated it when he was being cryptic.

"Who?" I asked.

"Jacob," Edward replied and headed to the French doors to let him in.

Jacob knocked before Edward reached the doors. "Come in, Jacob," Edward said as he opened the doors.

"Hi Edward," Jacob said, and then turned to me. "Hey Jasper.

"Hello Jacob, how are you doing?" I asked.

"Overwhelmed, but otherwise I'm okay," Jacob answered.

"We didn't mean for this to happen…" Edward began, but Jacob waved it off.

"It's not your fault. It takes months for whatever causes the change to fully take root. Sam and Jared began the change sometime in the last couple of months. Sam was first to change, then Jared," Jacob explained.

"We've been coming here for several weeks prior to moving here," I added.

"We know, but there is someone else that we think is responsible," Jacob began.

"Ah," Edward said. "You think it's the scent of the other vampire that you picked up?"

Jacob looked at Edward slightly confused. "How did you know about that?"

"I can read minds," Edward replied.

"Great!" Jacob said sarcastically. "I'll never get any privacy now,"

"I can only do it over a short range," Edward explained.

"Sorry, that's not what I meant. It's just that the rest of the pack can hear my thoughts too, but only when I'm in wolf form. You can imagine there are certain things I'd like to keep to myself," Jacob said.

"I would assume that means no one knows where you were exactly the other night?" I reasoned.

"Rachel and Leah know where I was, but no else. Can you imagine the reaction I'd get from my father if he knew that I preferred men over women? The stigma of being gay is even great greater in Native American tribes then you would think," Jacob lamented.

"Your secret is safe with us," Edward said. "I also will keep any thoughts of yours I happen across to myself unless you want them shared."

"Thank you…. I appreciate that."

"Let's get back to the topic of this vampire scent you found," I suggested, steering the conversation back to our previous topic.

"Can you remember what the scent smelled like?" Edward asked.

"Yes. I certainly can't forget it. It burned my nose because of how sweet it smelled," Jacob said.

"It's the same scent that Emmett picked up when he was out hunting a few days ago. We don't know who it belongs too. I haven't spoken to Carlisle yet about it, but Emmett was supposed to take him to check it out," Edward said after tasting the scent in Jacob's memories.

"Then can you explain how this mystery vampire would know about the treaty border?" Jacob asked.

"No, but that is a good question. Other then ourselves the only others who know about the border are our Denali Cousins, but that scent does not belong to any of them," Edward mused.

"Denali Cousins?" Jacob asked.

"There is a small coven of vampires who like us do not feed on humans. They live in the Denali region of Alaska," I explained.

"So there are others like you?" Jacob questioned.

"There are not many. Other then the Denali clan, there are only two other vampires that we know of that feed the way we do. Peter and Maggie, they are also aware of the border. The scent does not belong to either of them, and beside they are in Europe at the moment," I answered.

"Could any of them have told others about the treaty?" Jacob asked.

"I suppose it's possible, but they know how important it is to keep that information private," Edward replied.

"Maybe… Never mind, we'd have recognized the scent if it had been Garrett," I said.

"I spoke with Garret last week he is in South America, and has been there for the last several months," Edward added.

"Maybe we should call Riley and ask if he has heard from Eleazar about any new members joining the Denali clan," I suggested.

"No need, it would appear that Alice sent him over," Edward said. Riley entered through the same doors that Jacob had come through a few moments earlier.

"Alice told me that you needed to speak with me?" Riley said.

"I was just going to call you, but since you are here…" Edward replied.

"Jacob, this is my fraternal twin brother Riley. Riley this is Jacob Black."

They exchanged pleasantries, but I was paying more attention to Jacob's sudden increase in lust.

Edward rolled his eyes, and I looked over at him. _'Does Jacob have a twin fetish?'_ I asked via my thoughts.

Edward didn't answer, but I could tell from his emotions that I was pretty much on mark with my question.

"So what is this question you wanted to ask?" Riley said.

"Did Eleazar mention anything to you about a new vampire joining the Denali Clan?" Edward asked.

"No. I'm sure if someone new had joined he'd have told me," Riley answered.

"Well now we have a really big mystery on our hands," I said.

"Why? What's going on?" Riley asked.

"The mystery scent that Emmett came across a few days ago north of here. It appears the vampire who it belongs to knows about the treaty border between us. The only people we ever told about the treaty were the Denali Clan, and of course Peter," I said.

"How do you know that this vampire knows about the treaty?" Riley asked.

"His scent mirrors the treaty border almost perfectly. I'm sure you know that the border isn't marked, and it doesn't follow any natural boundary. It's almost completely random," Jacob said.

"Could it be the Volturi?" Riley asked.

"Demetri would have recognized the scent," I replied.

"Not if it's a new member," Riley reasoned.

"Possibly, but you know as well as I do that Demetri has met almost every vampire out there. There are very few that he doesn't know," Edward argued.

"I think we're going to have to get Demetri and Emmett to follow that scent and see where it leads. We should find out who this person is and what they want. I've just got a bad feeling that something isn't right," I said.

"I agree," Edward said.

"I'll talk to Emmett and Demetri about taking a run to follow that scent," Riley said. "But that may not happen until late tomorrow afternoon. Rosalie roped Emmett and me into helping her with her new project."

"That's fine, just let me know what you all find," I said.

Fenris chose that moment to make his presence known. He walked into the room and over to me, but kept his eyes on Jacob. He watched him closely, but didn't leave my side.

"You have a dog?" Jacob asked.

"Yes. This is Fenris," I said as I gently stroked the top of his head.

Jacob watched Fenris closely. "He doesn't appear at all fearful of you. I would have thought animal instincts would make him run away."

"I found Fenris was when he was only a few weeks old. He was about to be made into lunch by a bear. He has never been scare of me, and has never shown any signs of being fearful toward any of our kind. In fact he is quite the opposite," I answered.

"Peter learned that the hard way. Fenris tried to take off Peter's hand when he came to visit last year," Riley laughed.

"You're joking, right?" Jacob said.

Riley shook his head no. "Nope, Jasper has trained that dog good. Only wish he'd trained him to leave Alice's shoes alone."

"I didn't think it was possible for any animal to hurt a vampire," Jacob said, awed.

"Peter thought the same thing, which is probably why Fenris was able to nearly take off his hand," Edward said.

"I did not teach my dog to attack people. I just want to state that for the record. Peter should have known better then to tease him. I did, however, teach him how to defend himself. He's very loyal and protective of what he considers his domain," I said. "Beside he barely scratched Peter."

Fenris walked over to Jacob. He stopped near Jacob and took in his scent. It was while Fenris was doing this that I noticed Jacob's scent wasn't as strong as Sam or Jared's scent.

"So what does Fenris mean?" Jacob asked.

"It's a name from a Norse Myth about a wolf that had the power to kill the gods," I said.

"You named your dog after a wolf?" Jacob's emotions express his shock.

"I liked the name, and it seems fitting. I've learned over the years not to brush aside mythology. There are times when it can be more truthful then fiction. It's completely possible that the _gods_ were actually vampires and Fenris a protector of his people," I replied.

Fenris rubbed his side up against Jacob's leg and I was surprised by that. "Wow."

"What?" Jacob asked.

"He doesn't normally accept other people so easily. Other then Edward and I there aren't many people he'll let touch him or get close to him. Riley here is the only other one of us who can touch. Also on occasion will let Emmett take him on a run, but otherwise he is not that accepting," I explained.

"So he likes me?"

"I guess so."

"Maybe it has to do with Jacob's ability to phase into a wolf. I wonder if he can sense that ability in Jacob," Edward mused.

"I suppose that is possible. Fenris has always been very different then other animals. You were right when you said that animal instinct makes them fearful of us. Fenris is the only animal I've come across that doesn't run the other way when they catch our scent," I said.

"Speaking of scents," Edward began. "Jasper was thinking about how your scent isn't as strong as Sam and Jared's scent. I agree with him that it doesn't have that repulsive undertone to it that theirs did."

"Come to think of it, none of your scents are as strong as that other vampire. I would have thought it would be stronger considering we are standing in front of each other, and the scent isn't weeks old," Jacob said.

"Maybe Carlisle would have an explanation as to why the scents are so much milder then we are accustomed too?" Riley asked.

"No, I do not," Carlisle said as he entered the house. "Alice sent me."

I rolled my eyes. "Why am I not surprised by that?"

"She's watching to see if her newest fantasy will happen," Edward said with mock annoyance.

"I don't think I want to know any more than that," Carlisle said, and then turned to Jacob. "Hello, Jacob. It is nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Dr. Cullen," Jacob replied.

"You can call me Carlisle. I believe our friendship would be stronger if we view each other as equals, do you agree?" Carlisle said.

"There are some from my tribe who would disagree with you; regardless if you are more capable then they are in a fight. However, I don't agree with them. Also seeing how I am now chief of my people, it is my opinion that matters," Jacob said.

"I see you have accepted your birthright," Carlisle stated.

"I have, but I am curious how you knew that this was my birthright?"

"Ephraim was the last chief of your people. Before your great grandfather passed he and I spoke one last time. He was concerned that your tribe would become vulnerable with his passing. He trusted me, and asked that I look in on your people until the next chief of your tribe came into being," Carlisle said.

"You never told us this," I said.

Carlisle smiled. "Leadership has its privileges. Even Edward was completely unaware of this request, which I personally looked after over the years.

"How often did you come to check on us?" Jacob asked. He surprisingly wasn't upset by this revelation.

"I visited at least twice a year, every year, since the passing of Ephraim. I only encountered one scent about nine years ago. It was near Port Angeles, and by the time I encountered it, it was months old," Carlisle said.

Jacob's face showed no signs of the emotional change he experienced at Carlisle's words. I felt a sudden pang of sadness fill him. "Jacob, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Jacob replied quickly.

"I should probably explain that I am an Empath, Jacob. I can sense the emotions of people around me. I can also manipulate most emotions, but some emotions are out of my range of abilities," I explained.

Jacob sighed, "I should have figured you all would have extra abilities. Our legends speak about such things, but most of our elders dismiss them."

"We aren't all _gifted_," Carlisle said. "Jasper and Edward seem to have shared their abilities with you, and there are a few others among us who are also _gifted_."

"Gifted?" Jacob asked.

"It is a term used by some of our kind to refer to those vampires who have extra abilities. They are considered _gifts,_" Carlisle explained.

"They can be curses too," I said.

"What do you mean by that?" Jacob asked.

"It's a complicated story; maybe I'll explain it to you some time," I said. Thankfully, Jacob didn't press me on the topic.

"I'm not completely alright," Jacob said. "You can't imagine what it's like to wake up and find out your world has been turned upside down…"

All of us quirked an eyebrow at him, and Jacob chuckled. "Never mind."

"I think we understand better then you can imagine," Carlisle said. "None of us choose this life, but we make the best of it."

"Do you mind telling us what happened nine years ago?" Edward asked.

"My mom died. Until today I had always been told that she died in a car accident. This morning my dad laid a bombshell on me. She was killed, by a vampire," Jacob said.

"The scent I came across in Port Angeles?" Carlisle asked. Sadness filled his emotions.

"Yes. My mom worked at a restaurant in Port Angeles as a waitress. My dad said he knew it was a vampire who killed her, and he knows his voice," Jacob said.

"How does he know his voice?" I asked. "There are very strict laws in our world about keeping our kind secret. This vampire would not want any loose ends."

Jacob suddenly looked fearful for the first time since he stepped into our house. "I didn't ask. We got into an argument this morning over his reasons for hating all of you. It was how I learned the truth about my mother. It was kind of a shock, so I didn't think to ask for more details."

"It's important that you learn how he found out about this vampire's voice. Your father could have unwittingly placed himself in danger," I said.

"I'd like to talk to your father, find out if he can remember the voice," Edward said. "Anytime one of our kind comes into the area we live they almost always seek us out. It's possible that we could provide early warning if this vampire were to come back to the area."

"I'll ask him to come to the hospital with me tomorrow, if you are working," Jacob said.

"Yes. Jasper and I will both be there tomorrow, but its Carlisle's day off," Edward replied.

"Carlisle, did Emmett take you out to check on that scent he found?" I asked.

"No. What scent did he find?" Carlisle asked.

Edward sighed. "I told him two days ago when he came to us about it to tell you."

"Emmett and Demetri found a scent of an unknown vampire north of here. It appears it's the same scent that Jacob and the wolf pack found on the border between us," I said.

"The scent follows the border almost perfectly, almost like they know where it is," Jacob said.

"It's not a scent any of us recognize, which is worrisome," Edward added. "Riley, project this to Carlisle."

Jacob watched with curiosity as Riley took Carlisle and Edward's hands. "What are they doing?"

"Riley can project his own thoughts or form a connection between two other people," I explained. "It's strongest when using physical touch, but they can do it without contact."

"So he can do the opposite of Edward," Jacob said.

"Correct. It seems to be a common thing with twins. There are a set of twins in the Volturi. One of them can make you feel unbelievable pain, but the other can take away all your senses," I said.

A look of serious concern crossed Carlisle's face. "This is not good."

All of us turned our attention to Carlisle. "The scent is the same as the one I came across nine years ago."

Jacob visibly paled, and his emotions spiked high in the fear range. I relaxed his fear away slowly. "We aren't going to let anything happen to your dad."

Jacob nodded, but I could tell he wasn't totally convinced. "The scent also comes close to the village and First beach."

I looked over at Edward to see him and Riley having and silent conversation. I assumed he was talking to Riley about having Alice watch Mr. Black's future.

"I'm way too young to be dealing with all this crap," Jacob said.

"Don't underestimate yourself, Jacob. Young people are capable of great things, even if they don't expect it of themselves. You just need to trust in yourself and those around you to give you good advice to make sound decisions," Carlisle said.

"I need to get home," Jacob said, but turned to Edward. "Do you still want me to come see you tomorrow with my dad?"

"That's not necessary. We know the scent of this vampire, so we will be able to tell who it is if he comes to see us. But I do want to know how your father learned what this vampire's voice sounds like," Edward answered.

"I want to know if he shows up in the area," Jacob said.

Edward nodded, but didn't speak. No one needed to think very hard as to why Jacob would want to know if this vampire was in the area.


	6. A Typical Work Day

**Chapter 5: A Typical Work Da**y

**POV: Jasper**

There are very few of our kind who will skirt the rules. No one wants to be on the receiving end of Volturi _justice_. Yet, out there was someone who had done just that nine years ago. Keeping our kind a secret means that you did not feed from humans that will be missed. You don't leave witnesses to tell others about vampires and the rest of the supernatural world.

Sarah Black was a well known human. Her husband was head of the tribal council, and she had many friends. This was someone who would be missed, and questions could arise from her disappearance. More questions would arise from her body being found, and available to be examined.

In the week that passed since moving to Forks we know little more about this mysterious vampire. Riley had spoken to Eleazar, but he was in Spain with Carmen. He was also unaware of any new vampires joining the Denali Clan. This only caused the mystery to deepen further.

"Today is going to be very long and boring if it continues to be quiet like it's been the last two hours," I said coming back to the present and leaving my thoughts behind.

"You just say the 'Q' word. You do know that you've just guaranteed that we'll get a rush," Sue said. I rolled my eyes. I do not believe in such superstitious bullshit.

"Dr. Hale." Katie said as she approached the Nurse's station.

"Yes, Katie."

"Isaac Webber is in exam room one," Katie replied.

"Thank you, Katie."

I grabbed my tablet pc and pulled up the info on Isaac. I entered the room to find eleven year old Isaac sitting on the exam bed and his mother sitting in the chair beside it. He had a deep sounding cough, but it didn't appear to be very productive.

While I was trained as a Trauma Surgeon I also had extensive training in general medicine. The hospital had been extremely pleased to learn that I could also fill in to handle the normal cases that came to the Emergency Department.

"Good morning, Ms. Webber. I'm Dr. Hale," I said and turned to Isaac. "Good morning, Isaac."

"Hello Dr. Hale," Ms. Webber replied, and Isaac started coughing, again

"How long has he had the cough?" I ask as I start to examine Isaac.

"A week, but it's gotten worse in the last two days. He's also had a low fever," Ms. Webber said. "I gave him children's Tylenol but it doesn't appear to be helping."

I finished up examining Isaac. "I'm pretty sure that he has an upper respiratory infection, but I'd like to get a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. I'll have Katie come back and take him for the x-ray and if it comes back clean I'll give you a prescription for antibiotics."

"Thank you, Dr. Hale," replied Ms. Webber.

I headed back to the nurse's station as I finished entering the order into the tablet pc. "Katie, can you please take Isaac for a chest x-ray, and let me know when the film is available."

"I'll take him right now. You have Tyler Crowley in Exam Room three," Katie said.

Sue had a smile on her face and a look that said I told you so. "Thank you, Katie."

'_Nope, I do still not believe that superstitious bullshit.'_

I headed to the exam room. "Hello Tyler, I'm Dr. Hale," I said upon entering. "What seems to be the issue today?"

"Umm... I've got an itch," Tyler said. His emotions were expressing his embarrassment, and a bit of fear.

"Okay, where are you itching and do you have a rash?" I asked.

"Umm... no rash and it are umm... down there..." Tyler said, the last part was said too lower for human ears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Where did you say you were itching?"

"Down there…" Tyler said a little louder, while looking down at his crotch. He was very embarrassed and scared.

"You mean your pubic area?" I asked. While I knew what he was saying, I had to play the role of a human.

Tyler nodded his head and I could feel his embarrassment intensify. Tyler was already in the hospital gown and ready for examination.

"I need to exam you to see what is causing the itch," I said. Tyler nodded. It took me a moment to exam Tyler's genitals and determine the cause.

"Are you sexually active Mr. Crowley?"

"I've only had sex with my girlfriend," Tyler replied.

"You will need to tell your girlfriend to come in to be examined. You have pubic lice also known as crabs. I also highly suggest that you tell your mother; and make sure that you wash all towels and bedding that you have come in contact with in the last two weeks," I said.

"How can I get crabs I've only had sex with my girlfriend?" Tyler asked.

"Typically, crabs are spread via intimate contact during sex. However, they can be spread via bedding or towels, but this is less common. I suggest you ask your girlfriend if she is being sexually active with other people. I'm going to give you a prescription for medication that will kill the adult lice, but you need to follow the directions very closely to be sure you kill off all the lice."

"Thanks, Dr. Hale."

"You're welcome Tyler. A nurse will be in with the instructions and your prescription." I said and left the room. I sighed as I head back toward the nurse's station. There are some benefits to being a vampire, and those include not having to worry about awkward conversations with your mother about an STD.

"Sue, can you print off instructions on how to deal with public lice for Tyler Crowley," I said upon returning to the nurse's station.

Sue was trying not to smile, but was failing. "Don't say it. I'm being punished for saying the 'Q' word. I shall never say it again." I vowed. The only thing that could be worse would be having to deal with a hypochondriac.

"Well I won't say I told you so," Sue said as she got to work on printing off the information I requested. I was about to reply when I smelled blood. I turned to see Mr. Marshall walking in with his wife who was holding one of his hands wrapped in a kitchen towel.

"Sue, help me here," I said as I walked over to Mr. Marshall. Sue eyed me closely for a moment as I grabbed Mr. Marshall's wrist, and used to fingers to slow blood flow to his hand. I then lifted his hand above his heart to help further. Sue opened the door to the closest open exam room and let us in.

Sue grabbed gloves and then gauze pads to get the bleeding to stop. I tossed the bloody towel into the biohazard bin as soon as Sue started working on stopping the bleeding. I washed my hands then grabbed gloves and went back to helping Sue.

I took us a minute to finally get the bleeding under control. It wasn't bleeding to a point that would be considered dangerous, but it had soaked the towel, and he'd probably lost close to a pint of blood over all.

"How did you cut your hand, Mr. Marshall?" I asked. Now that the bleeding was stopped, I could closely examine his hand.

"He broke a glass figurine at the store and cut his palm," Mrs. Marshall answered.

I grabbed the necessary items, tweezers, a dish and other items to clean and bandage his hand. Sue got fresh gloves and we set to work on cleaning up Mr. Marshall's hand. "You are very lucky Mr. Marshall. It would appear you missed all the major nerves in your hand, but you are going to require stitches."

Sue left to get the items to stitch up Mr. Marshall's hand as I worked on removing the tiny bits of glass from the cut. It looked more like the figurine had shattered in his hand, versus cut his palm. Sue returned and watched as I cleaned the wound and prepared it to be stitched.

"It appears more like the figurine shattered in your hand Mr. Marshall," I said.

"I was stocking the shelves, and I dropped one of the figurines. It wasn't damaged, but when I bent down to pick it up I slipped and crushed it under my hand," He said.

After I stitched it up, Sue dressed it and explained to Mr. Marshall that he needed to keep it clean. She also gave him a shot for the pain.

"I can give you a prescription for painkillers or you can try taking Tylenol for the pain, but no aspirin," I said.

"I'll just take Tylenol," Mr. Marshall said. His respond didn't surprise me. The Marshalls were and older couple. I had noticed in my time as a doctor that many older people didn't ask for pain medication and would endure the pain or just take something over the counter.

"Very good, but if it gets more painful then it currently is I want you to return here so we can re-examine your hand to make sure that there isn't something else wrong. You won't need to come back to have the stitches removed, they'll dissolve on their own in about a week. Keep the wound clean, to prevent infection. If it does become infected come back immediately so we can treat it," I added.

"Thank you, Doctor," Mrs. Marshall said, and then proceeded to scold her husband that was my cue to leave.

I returned to the nurse's station where Katie was waiting with Isaac's chest x-ray. It was clean, but I kept up the human act and gave it a longer look before issuing a prescription for the antibiotics.

"Mike Newton is in exam room two with a splinter. I was going to treat it, but he insisted that a doctor look at it." Katie said. She then rolled her eyes.

"I'll go have a look." I said. _'Fuck me!'_

I headed to exam room two and knocked on the door before entering. "Hello Mike, I'm Dr. Hale."

"Doc. You've got to get this splinter out it hurts really bad," Mike whine and there appeared to be tears in his eyes.

I grabbed a pair of gloves and some tweezers. Mike held out his hand and I grabbed his wrist to hold his hand still. I used the tweezers and pulled out the small splinter. I'm sure splinters can be painful, but seriously he was over doing it. The splinter wasn't that bad, and it wasn't embedded too deeply in his finger.

"It's out Mike," I said and then dropped it in the bio-hazard bin. "Is there anything else?"

"No. Thanks doc, you're a life saver," Mike said.

"A nurse will be in to finish up and then you can go," I said and left. Katie joined me as I headed for the nurse's station.

"Was it a big splinter?" Katie asked with a laugh.

I rolled my eyes. "He's either got really sensitive skin or is the biggest whiner I've ever met."

"Mike was like that in high school too," Katie added.

I sat down at the nurse's station and started filling out paperwork on all the patients I'd seen so far today. Carlisle had instilled in Edward and I how important it was to keep detailed information about the patients we saw. This information may seem minor at times, but we never know when the most minor detail could save a patient's life.

Sue returned from finishing up with Mr. Marshall as I was working. "May I ask what you are doing?"

Thinking I'd done something wrong I instantly apologized. "Sorry, I was just detailing out the diagnoses and treatments for all the patients I've seen today. I can do this elsewhere. I didn't mean to take up your work space."

Sue shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'm just not use to doctor's doing that themselves."

"This is something that I learned from Carlisle. He impressed upon Edward and me the importance of keeping detailed notes, and said it's something that we should always do ourselves. I know that nurses are very busy, and I've got the time so I should put that time to good use," I replied.

Sue let me carry on, but sat down and started working on other paperwork. Katie stopped by and asked if she could go to lunch. Sue waved her off to lunch.

I could feel some reluctance, but growing curiosity coming from Sue. "Why do you do it?" She finally asked.

"Do what?" I asked. We were alone, so it was safe enough to talk. I figured she was going to ask questions that couldn't be discussed in front of Katie.

"Being a doctor," Sue replied.

"It's a complicated story," I began. "When I originally went to medical school it was as a favor to Carlisle. He needs to keep up with the latest medical techniques and research. We take turns going to medical school to keep him current. I found medical school to be fascinating, and at Carlisle's urging I decided to do my residency. It was difficult, but I liked the feeling I got when I was able to save a life."

"So you do this to save lives?" Sue asked with heavy skepticism

"I didn't choose this life. It was forced upon me, and I've make the best of it that I can. I know better than most people alive today what my kind is capable of because I've seen it firsthand. I also know the cruelty that some humans are willing to commit against their own. I've seen wars between covens that have wiped out whole villages. I've seen wars between humans that have killed millions. Most people who've seen and live through what I have wouldn't have come out sane," I sighed, before continuing.

"I didn't come out sane. I was a shell when Edward found me. I couldn't bear the thought of taking one more life, but I didn't know any other way to survive. I'd gone to extremes to keep from having to do it, but it only made things worse. He showed me that there was another way, and it was then that I'd finally felt hope for the first time in nearly a century."

Sue didn't say anything until after I finished Isaac's file.

"Maybe Claire was right," Sue said.

"Who is Claire?" I asked. An old memory from many years ago resurfaced after I asked the question. A little girl hurt, in the woods. I recognized her as the Quileute girl we saved from the nomad.

"My grandmother-in-law, she passed away a few years ago, but she was always a voice of reason in our tribe. She always said that the Cullens were different," Sue answered.

"She was the little girl that we saved from the nomad," I said.

"So the story is real?" Sue asked.

"She was taken by a nomad the last time we were in this area. Carlisle offered our aid to Ephraim. He accepted, and we were able to help save her," I replied. "I'm happy to learn she had a long life."

"She did, but it was still short compared to some," Sue said. I knew what she was implying, but I let it slide.

I finished up with the patient files without further conversation with Sue. I could tell from her emotions that she was thinking over the things that we had talked about. I knew that one conversation wasn't going to change her mind about my family or me, but it did seem to get her thinking.

"Help!" I heard a young male voice yell.

I looked up to see two teenagers carrying in an older adult male between the two of them. From here I could tell the man was having a lot of difficulty breathing. I stood immediately and ran over to him at human speed.

"Sue, get a stretcher," I called back.

"He has asthma." One of the teen boys said. I noticed that the boys were in soccer uniforms from the high school, and I assumed this was their coach.

"Where is his inhaler?" I asked.

"He didn't have it with him at practice. We didn't know what to do," the boy replied back. His voice was frantic with worry.

Sue arrived with the stretcher and I picked up the coach and put him on it. His breathing seemed to be worsening quickly. He was gasping for breath and was not getting enough oxygen. His lips started turning blue.

"Call a code," I said, and started rushing him to the first open room. Sue ran to the nurse's station and called a code blue, which put out a call for all available doctors and nurses in the area to rush to the ER.

Edward was the first doctor to arrive, and did a quick visual examination. "We need to intubate," he said as he grabbed the necessary items from the nearby cabinet.

"Coach, look at me." I said. His eyes were frantic, and he couldn't breathe on his own any more. "Relax Coach, we're going to put a tube down your air passage to help you breath."

I normally didn't use my ability in the hospital, but I knew I need him relaxed to get the tube down his throat. I pushed calm emotions into him as Edward placed a pillow under the Coach's head. He then using his thumb to open the coach's mouth further and then using the laryngoscope to get the tube down his throat. Sue came in at that point with several medications.

"Ten CCs of prednisone," I called to Sue. She quickly prepared the syringe and handed it to me. I injected it into his thigh because it was an intramuscular injection. Normally it is something that staff is trained to inject into a buttock, but Edward was finishing up with the intubation procedure and couldn't stop what he was doing.

We quickly got him hooked up to the mechanical ventilator and began working on increasing his oxygen levels. Katie and Sue got him hooked up to the monitors and started an IV to combat dehydration, which is a risk from a prolonged asthma attack.

"Oxygen levels are risings," Edward said as he watched the monitor.

"We'll continue to monitor him for the next few hours," I said. Now that the patient was stabilized, we setup to monitor him from the nurse's station.

"Why don't you and Sue take a break? I can cover things here with Katie until you get back," Edward suggested


	7. Building Trust

**Chapter 6: Building Trust**

**POV: Jasper**

I found myself taking my break in the hospital cafeteria with Sue. I had planned to just go to my office and read, but Sue asked me join her. I had a feeling she wanted to continue our conversation from earlier in the day. Those feelings were confirmed when she chose to sit away from everyone else in the room.

I looked out the window and into the relaxation plaza, an outdoor seating area with flowers and plants, intended to soothe patients.

"You said earlier that when Edward found you that you were little more than a shell?" Sue said.

I nodded, "My life before Edward was much different than it is now. The south is a different place, even in my world. Here in the north most of my kind are nomads. My family one of only two similar families that spend any great length of time in one place."

"They settle in one place in the south?" Sue asked.

I shook my head. "The difference really isn't in how they settle but the attitude of the ones in the south. In the north all of us living peaceably, but in the south its war; it has been constant war there for centuries."

"What do they fight over?" Sue asked.

"Imagine if you will a map of the southern half of North America. On that map imagine each human life represented by a red dot. They fight over the thickest red."

Sue paled, and pushed her food away.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," I said.

She shook her head. "So you fought in this war?"

"Not by choice. It was fight or die. I did what I needed to do to survive. When I was changed I knew nothing of this world. Maria, my sire, told me it was war everywhere and that you fought or you died."

"So she lied to you?" Sue asked. There was a hint of surprise in her voice.

"You say that almost as if you are surprised that I was lied to. You have to look at the south through the eyes of the powerful, the perpetually thirsty. Everyone in the south is about their own selfish desires," I replied, and then sighed. "It's not just in the south that people selfish. I've found that trait exist in all species."

"When did you learn the truth?"

"It took more than sixty years before I learned the truth. Maria was more than just my sire. She was for a time my lover and my only friend in this world. Although I'm sure if I hadn't been useful to her then she'd have killed me after my first year," I replied.

"She sounds like a horrible person," Sue said.

"She's dead," I said. I looked down at my hands before speaking again.

"My father always said I was charismatic. It was his view that this was why I was so easily and quickly promoted in the army. I lied to the recruiters and said I was twenty, but I was barely seventeen. They didn't question me about my age and within three years I was a Major."

"Sam said that Jacob said 'major' a few times during his ride home that night," Sue said.

"I earned a reputation during my time in the south. It's not something that I mention often, but it does help keep my family safe. There are very few people in this world that would challenge me. I have a reputation for being the deadliest of my kind," I sighed and looked outside.

"I had to do things that I'm not proud of to survive. I try to convince myself that I'd be dead if I hadn't, but I can't help thinking about how there can be no justifications for the evil that people do to each other," I said.

"You're not like that now," Sue said, but it sounded almost like a question.

"No. When I met Edward my life changed in many ways. Change for my kind is a very rare occurrence, and it's not something to be taken lightly. The first and biggest change for me was my diet, but it was also the most difficult. The easy change was falling in love with Edward."

"Why do you live the way you do?" Sue asked.

"We all have different reasons, but we can all agree that none of us wanted this life. We deal with what we've been handed. We don't want to be monsters, and any one of us would give up all of this just to be human again, but that isn't an option. Living the way we do allows us to be in touch with our humanity. Sometimes we can almost feel normal."

"None of us have ever considered things from your point of view. Perhaps we've been a bit unfair," Sue said.

"No all of my kind is like my family and I. You must not let your guard down or you could come to regret it. My family is different and we try very hard, but we are not perfect and we've made mistakes. We do our absolute best to avoid putting ourselves in situations where we could slip."

"But Carlisle, Edward and you are so controlled. I saw how you reacted Mr. Marshall when he game in. He was bleeding and it's like you don't notice it," Sue said.

"Oh, trust me I notice it. I've learned how to focus on the task at hand, and the blood becomes a minor thought in the back of my mind. Carlisle is much more controlled then Edward and I. It has no effect on him, and he's able to do the work he loves without pain. Edward and I are able to do the same, but we know our limits and we don't push them. We hunt regularly, and spend a good deal of time refining our control. The patients here have little to worry about from us, if that is your concern."

"Speaking of patients, I think we should get back to the Emergency Room," Sue suggested.

"Yes, our lunch break is over," I added. "Thank you for listening, Sue."

"I think we can all use a reminder sometimes that life isn't always what we imagine it to be, and that sometimes we don't always get what we want or expect."

I nodded, and we headed back to the ER.

We kept coach Clapp for another two hours to observe his treatment, and then released him with a few new prescriptions. His wife thanked us over a dozen times for saving her husband. Both Edward and I told her we were just doing our job.

Lauren Mallory came in shortly before our shift was scheduled to end. She turned out to be Tyler's girlfriend. I let Edward handle that case, which he was not pleased with at all. The worst part was she tried to blame Tyler, but quickly shut up when Edward said her case of lice was far more advanced.

Edward spent the rest of the time building up static electricity then shocking me in retaliation for having to deal with Lauren. Of course, Katie and Sue would laugh every time Edward shocked me.

Thankfully Carlisle arrived to relieve us for the night shift as I was finishing up paperwork for the day. "Carlisle said that Demetri is waiting for us outside." Edward said.

"I'm almost done here." I said while finishing up with the last patient's records, and trying to avoid getting shocked again.

"I'm going to get changed," Edward said and headed for the staff locker room.

Just as I put down my touch pad I got zapped again. I was about to let Edward have it when I remembered he'd gone to get changed. There was no one around me. I thought for a second I was losing my mind, but then I got zapped again. This time instead of it being a quick shock, it lingered.

'_I'm clearly loosing my mind,'_ I thought. The electric shock faded, but then I got hit with a barrage of emotions.

"Hello, Dr. Hale," Angela Webber said as she entered the ER.

"Hello Angela. How are you this evening?" I asked.

"I think I'm coming down with an ear infection. My balance has been off all day," Angela replied.

"You should have Carlisle take a look at you before you start your shift," I suggested.

"You are probably right. I nearly feel coming into the building, but thankfully Carlisle's younger brother was there to catch me. My arm is also feeling a bit tingly, so I should probably have him look at that too," Angela said.

I nodded, "I treated Isaac earlier for an infection. Hopefully you aren't coming down with what he's got."

"I'll have Carlisle give me a quick exam. I don't want to get the patients sick," Angela said. "Have a goodnight Dr. Hale."

I quickly headed to get changed. I found Edward outside talking to Demetri. They both had a very concerned expression on their faces. I had a feeling it had to do with Angela.

"At first I thought I imagined it, but I know for sure after talking to Angela that what I felt wasn't imagined," I said as I approached them.

Demetri gave me a pained expression. "It's not what you think."

"I thought Edward was the mind reader," I joked.

"This isn't funny Jasper," Demetri retorted in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, I think it is hilarious," I pressed.

"She's human," Demetri added in a harsh tone under his breath.

"I'm well aware that she's human," I said, and turned toward the Range Rover. Edward and Demetri followed after a moment.

I slipped into the driver's seat, and Edward took the front passenger's seat. Demetri slipped into the back seat with a jumble of emotions rolling off of him.

"I don't mean to tease you, Demetri. I know that this isn't a very good situation for you to be in at the moment," I said while pulling out of the parking space.

"That is an understatement. This is the worse possible thing that could have happened to me," Demetri said in a pained voice.

"It's not as bad as you are thinking," Edward said.

"Not as bad? You do know that I just found out my mate is a human. Not only that she is also a minister's daughter, and she's probably a sweet and good person. How is someone like that supposed to love someone like me?" Demetri argued.

"You probably should slow things down and take it one step at a time. Maybe try being her friend first, and then see where things go. She might surprise you, and not be concerned with what you are," I said.

"I'm sure that conversation would go over really well.'_By the way I'm a vampire.'," _Demetri said annoyed.

"Not exactly how I would say it, but whatever works," I retorted.

Demetri sighed. "I left the Volturi in part to find a mate, but it seems fate has a sick sense of humor when deciding my mate should be human."

"I'm sure if you talk to Alice she can look into the future and perhaps see how things turn out," Edward suggested.

"I suppose it would not hurt to ask Alice," Demetri sighed again. "Can we change the subject? I came with Carlisle originally to talk to you about the scent from that other vampire."

"Did you learn something new?" I asked.

"When we originally tried to track the scent we hit a dead end when it came to the Juan de Fuca Strait. The last couple of days Riley and I have been searching up and down the coast line on both sides of the border. We got a lucky break early this morning near Bliss Landing in British Columbia. The scent re-emerged from the strait, and then headed east. We followed it as far as Kelowna, but we stopped following it there because it split into different paths. All the paths lead away from the west coast from what we could tell." Demetri said, recounting their activities.

"Does that mean it would be safe to say this vampire is gone?" I asked.

"I can't say for sure, Jasper. I wish I could, but I'm reluctant to believe that this vampire would come here every two weeks then just up and disappear," Demetri responded.

"I was afraid you'd say that," I lamented. "Why can't anything be easy? I mean all we wanted when we came here was some peace and quiet for once."

"Fate is a cruel mistress," Demetri laughed.

"She sure seems to enjoy jerking us around," I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm the only one who gets to jerk you around, babe," Edward said with a grin.

"Ugh. Don't you two start! I had enough of Rosalie and Emmett going at it all day today. I have never been so happy in my life when Esme asked me to help her in the garden," Demetri groaned.

"Now you know why we build our house so far from theirs," I laughed.

"They were at the main house! I seriously can't figure out why they build that house when they are always at the main house," Demetri said with exasperation.

"Rosalie love attention, and Emmett doesn't care who sees them going at it," Edward said.

"Well it's annoying to deal with. I'm surprise Esme hasn't kicked them out of the house yet."

"Give her a few more weeks. Esme has the patience of a saint, but even she has limits," I said.

By the time our conversation was winding down we were home. I pulled the Range Rover into the garage, and then we headed in. Fenris, who normally met me at the door, was unexpectedly absent. The mystery was solved a moment later when I rounded the corner into the kitchen. I could see him outside playing fetch with Jacob.

I stepped out into the backyard and called out to them. "Do you play fetch too, Jacob?"

Edward started laughing behind me. _'Shut up, you idiot. You're going to give me away,'_ I projected, but that only made him laugh harder.

"What's it look like," Jacob replied, and then realization crossed his face. "You know what… fuck you."

I started laughing and waved him in. "You wish," I said to him when he got closer.

"Ugh, don't start. I had enough of Blondie and He-man going at it this afternoon," Jacob replied with annoyance.

"I see you got a proper welcome to the family," I laughed.

"Not funny. How do you stand those two? I was only at the main house long enough to have lunch, which Esme insist upon, and talk to Demetri about the mystery vampire," Jacob replied.

"Try living with them for almost seventy years," Edward retorted.

"No thanks," Jacob said.

"Anything else bring you out here?" I asked.

"I needed to get away for a bit. Sam and Leah are driving me crazy with their constant back and forth bullshit. I've been trying to get Sam to explain to Leah what happened, but he refuses to see reason. I could order him to do it, but that doesn't seem right. Then I've got Leah bitching at me with theories of Sam and Emily dating behind her back. It's putting a real strain on everyone," Jacob said.

"You're going to have to give us a bit more detail then that if you want our advice," I said.

Jacob sighed, and plopped himself down in one of the large arm chairs. "Leah is a close friend and one of the few people who knows I'm gay. She and Sam were high school sweethearts and had been dating for years, until about two months ago."

"What happened two months ago?" I asked.

"It was a couple of weeks after Sam phased for the first time. Emily Young, Leah's cousin came to visit. Sam was there, and he imprinted on Emily. By imprinting on Emily he had basically ended all possibilities of ever being with Leah."

"What is imprinting?" Edward inquired.

"Sorry, I forget that you all don't know about these things. Imprinting is when a member of the pack finds their other half. I guess you could call it finding your soul mate. It's not something that we can control, it just happens. Not every wolf imprints, but there are some that do. Sam is the first among the pack to imprint. The imprint should never be resisted; it can have very negative effects on all involved."

"I'm assuming that Leah knows nothing about the wolves?" I queried.

"You'd be correct. The Elders told Sam he couldn't tell Leah, but I've overridden them. I told Sam to tell Leah the truth, but he's refused to do so. He's hoping that Leah will come around without telling her about imprinting, and the wolves. I told him he's only making things worse for himself, and Emily."

"Do you really think it'll make a difference to Leah?" Edward asked.

"I don't know, but Leah isn't unreasonable. If she understands what happened then she might go easier on Sam and the rest of us," Jacob answered.

"Have you tried talking to Leah?" I asked.

"No. I just don't feel it is my place to talk to her about what happened. It's Sam's responsibility, but it's starting to affect other people. I'm half tempted to order him to talk to her, but I know I'd feel bad about doing that to him."

"I think you should take a different approach. I would suggest talking to Emily, and asking her to talk to Sam. I think you'd have more results if she makes the request then if you constantly try to pressure Sam to speak to Leah," I offered.

"I will give that a shot, can't get any worse results then I've gotten so far," Jacob sighed.

I headed for the kitchen to feed Fenris. As soon as he heard the can opener going he came running into the kitchen and waited patiently by his bowl. I filled his bowl with the dog food, and then washed up while he ate happily.

"Do you all think this rogue vampire stuff is over with?" Jacob asked as I returned to the Great Room.

"No," I said without hesitation. "I'd hope Demetri would feel otherwise and talk me into believing it was over, but he expressed his concern on our way home."

"Maybe it is over, but I've got this gnawing feeling in the back of my mind that we haven't seen the last of this vampire. I just hope he or she doesn't have friends," Demetri added.

"Alice has her eye on the future, and will be sure to alert us if she see something untoward coming for us," Edward assured.

"If you will all excuse me. Riley offered to go hunting with me tonight, and I need time to think about today's events," Demetri said.

"We're here if you want to talk, but Alice would be better able to assist you," Edward offered.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," Demetri said, and then headed off.

"What's up with him? He seemed a bit odd, tonight." Jacob said.

"Demetri found one of the things he was looking for when he joined us. However, it didn't come in a nice and neat little package. There are complications and he's not sure how to handled it or if he should even pursue it," Edward said.

"A little less cryptic and a little more English, please," Jacob said with sarcasm.

"Demetri met his mate, but she's human," I said.

"Oh… Wait, he can't…" I held up my hand stopping Jacob.

"Relax Jacob. He's not going to do anything at the moment. Demetri struggles a great deal with this life, but he also knows the benefits of it. However, he's got a lot of self doubts at the moment. In his mind this girl could never love him," I said.

"We still have an agreement. He may not have been there when the treaty was agreed to, but he's a member of your coven and thus bound by the same treaty," Jacob said.

"Family," I corrected. "We're well aware of what the treaty says. We were there when it was agreed to."

"Sorry. I know you were there. It's just I've got enough problems on the reservation without this popping up," Jacob sighed. "I'm sure Demetri a great guy. He's been a lot of help us, but I can only fight so many battles."

"Demetri needs to figure out some things for himself before he speaks to this person. There are also rules and other issues that need to be overcome before we even discuss long term changes," Edward said.

"I sometimes wish this was just a bad dream, and that I was about to wake up. I was happier when I didn't _know_ about all this stuff," Jacob sighed.

"I think we can all agree we've shared that same sentiment at times," I remarked.

"There was another reason I stuck around here today. I was hoping I could talk to the two of you about my dad," Jacob said.


	8. Close Call

**Chapter 7: Close Call**

**PoV: Jacob**

In the end Sam didn't need to tell Leah anything. None of us ever expected what happened. Our traditions and legends never prepared us for what happened the day after I got advice from Edward and Jasper…

It was a one of the few remaining nice days before autumn was to begin. I decided to take a walk along the beach before going to speak to Sam, but Leah showed up during my walk.

"I thought I was the only one who walked on the beach when I'm troubled," Leah said as she surprised me.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people."

"Maybe you should be paying better attention to your surroundings, 'oh wise chief'," Leah joked with a grin.

"Don't you start; I get enough of Jared and Quil doing that," I replied annoyed.

"You looked troubled," Leah said changing the topic.

"I've got a lot on my mind lately. I'm just out here trying to sort it all out," I explained.

"I usually hike up to the tidal pools and sit on the rock ledge watching the fishes and frogs when I need to sort through my thoughts."

I smiled. "I haven't been to the tidal pools since I was a little kid."

"All the more reason for us to go," Leah said returning my smile.

I nodded, and we headed toward the end of the beach. We found the well trodden path that lead up to the tidal pools. I held the branches out of the way for Leah as we made our way along the winding path. When we reached the pools, we could see that the tide had gone out a few hours earlier.

I sat on the rock ledge and looked down at the fishes, frogs, and other marine life go on about their day.

"It's peaceful here," Leah said as she sat down beside me.

I stayed silent and allowed myself to just absorb the moment of calm and peace the seemed to surround this place.

"Do you want to talk about what is troubling you?" Leah asked.

I shook my head. "It's complicated and it's something I need to figure out on my own."

"Does it have anything to do with you being gay?" Leah pressed. She was one of the few people who know about my sexual orientation, and thankfully, she was also very good at keeping secrets.

"No."

"I guess that means it's not boy troubles," Her replied was meant to be humorous, but I could also hear the pain in her voice.

"No. It's not boy troubles. It's kind of difficult to have boy troubles when I don't even have a boyfriend," I replied.

"Then what's the problem?"

I was about the answer when the wind shifted directions and the scent hit me hard. A tremor shuddered through my body as I kept myself from phasing. In a flash, I was on my feet and grabbed hold of Leah.

"Jake!" Leah yelled.

"Quiet!" I said in a hushed by stern tone. I shoved Leah behind me against a nearby boulder. My eyes shifted through the forest that surrounded us, and my nose drew in the scents.

On the cliffs further up over looking our location I saw something flash into the forest. "Leah, give me your phone, now," I said.

I could feel her tremble behind me. "Jake what's going on? You're scaring me."

"Just give me your phone. I'll explain in a minute," I replied sternly.

Leah pulled her phone from her pocket and headed it to me. I dialed the number from memory as my eyes continued to scan the forest. It only rang once before it was answered.

"Hello?" I heard Jasper's voice.

"Jasper, its Jake! He's here!" I said in a rushed voice. I heard a crash in the background.

"Where are you?" Jasper asked.

"Tidal pools near First Beach!" I replied quickly my eyes still scanning the trees.

"Fuck!"

"Just cross the fucking border. I'm alone with Leah," I replied. My voice was trembling from trying so hard to keep myself together.

I could hear Jasper talking to someone in the background. It sounded like Edward. "Tell him we're on our way, and that Demetri is coming with us. We need him to get a read on this fucker so we can track him down."

"I heard. Just fucking get here already! Sam is in Port Angeles, and I have no clue were Jared is."

"Stay on the phone with us. We're leaving now," Jasper replied.

"What the hell is that smell," Leah said behind me. The wind shifted again and the scent hit me stronger than before. He was on the cliff above us, but he was in the shadow where I couldn't see him clearly.

I was losing control. I moved away from Leah. "Leah, stay where you are."

"Jasper, hurry," Was the last thing I got out before the next tremor hit me and I couldn't stop from phasing. Fire ripped through me as my body burst into a wolf.

"Holy fuck!" Leah said.

I let out an ear piercing howl as my feet touched the ground. Less than a second later I heard Jared's voice in my head. _'Jake? What's going on?'_

'_The vampire is back at the tidal pools. I'm here alone with Leah, but the Cullens are on their way to help,' _I projected.

"He phased," I heard Jasper say from the phone that lay on the ground beside me. "Jake, if you can hear me, we are crossing the border now. Demetri is tracking you,"

Before I could even think to process what Jasper had just said I felt the air around me shudder and a scream turned into a howl. I turned my head to see a small gray wolf where Leah had been standing.

'_Leah?'_

'_What the fuck?' _Leah screamed in her thoughts.

'_Leah?' _Jared thought.

'_What the hell is going on?' _Leah demanded

'_We don't have time to explain. There is a fucking vampire on the cliff above us. Just follow my lead and don't get yourself killed!' _I said in my alpha voice. I wasn't taking any chances.

I took off toward the cliff above us with Leah following a short distance behind me. I could hear Leah debating in her mind if this was a horrible nightmare or if she was going crazy.

'_You're not going crazy and this is very real,' _Jared projected. _'I'm coming up on your left, Jake.'_

'_I'll take lead, and we'll do this just like we practiced,'_ I said, and showed Leah my memories of Sam, Jared and I practicing our fighting techniques.

We reached the cliff, but there was no vampire. The scent here was very strong here and there were some signs that the ground had been disturbed.

'_Everyone's eyes on the tree line, he can't have gone far,' _I ordered.

'_Incoming!'_ Jared projected.

The scents hit me immediately. _'Stand down. It's the Cullens. No one attacks them.'_

I made sure to use my alpha tone, to prevent any accidents. The urge to attack gnawed at the back of my mind in this form. I didn't want the others to act on that urge.

"We'll keep our distance," Edward said as Jasper, Demetri, and he came into view.

'_If you are here that means you didn't run across the rogue?'_ I projected.

"No. His scent is very strong here," Edward said.

'_Can you track him?'_ I asked.

"Jacob wants to know if you can track the rogue?" Edward relayed to Demetri.

"No, I need to get a better read on him. The most I can tell you at the moment is that he's northwest of here."

'_Fuck! The village,'_ I projected. Edward winced.

I took off running at full speed toward the village with Jared and Leah on my heels. I could sense the Cullens following us at a distance.

'_Would someone please tell me what is going on?' _Leah demanded again.

'_Not now, Leah!'_ I projected.

"Leah? Well that is a shock," I heard Edward say from behind us.

Before I could reply Demetri spoke. "He's ahead, just beyond the tree line."

I noticed three things when we broke through the tree line. The first thing I noticed was that we were behind my house. The next thing I noticed was that my dad was on wheeling himself down the ramp from the porch to the driveway. The last thing I noticed was the vampire near the back corner of my house no more than fifty feet from my dad.

Time stood still and my legs just wouldn't move fast enough. My heart was beating so hard, and for the first time since my I could remember, I felt genuine fear. No matter how much I tried I couldn't will my body to move any faster. Everything was happening in slow motion.

The only thought running through my mind was to stop this blood sucking leech before he got to my dad, but I knew there was no way for me to get there in time.

I watched helpless as he moved toward my dad. I let out a ferrous howl, and my dad turned to see the vampire move toward him.

In the same instance a flash of light beside me caught my attention for the briefest second. The next thing I saw was Edward had leaped from the tree line and cross the distance between us and the vampire in less than a second.

The vampire turned at the sound of my howl and saw Edward coming for him. He reared back on his heels and sprinted off in the other direction. Jasper and Demetri took off after him. Edward slid into a crouch between my dad and the vampire who was now running away from him.

I headed for my dad. I wanted to be sure he wasn't hurt in any way, and I wasn't going to take anyone's word for it. I had to see for myself.

I phased the moment I got near Edward. "Dad?"

"Jake? What's going on? Why are the Cullens on the Reservation?" Dad asked.

"That vampire that nearly…" I couldn't bring myself to say the words. "It's the same one that killed mom."

"Are you sure?" Dad asked.

"Yes."

"And the Cullens?"

"I'll explain later," I said and turned toward Jared and Leah. "Go after that parasite and bring me back his head."

Jared and Leah took off like a bullet heading in the direction that Jasper and Demetri had gone.

"Demetri is having a hard time getting a read on this guy. It's almost like he's able to change his thought pattern," Edward said. "I'll stay with your dad if you want to go after this guy, but I don't think we're going to catch him today."

"Why?" I asked.

"He's cross the river, but they can't find his scent on the other side. Demetri still hasn't gotten a good read on him. He's having a hard time tracking him."

"What are you talking about?" Dad asked.

"I called the Cullens for help. I was at the tidal pools with Leah, when that vampire's scent hit me. I knew that Sam was in Port Angeles, but I didn't know where Jared was. I couldn't go after that guy with Leah there."

"Where is Leah now?" Dad asked.

"You won't believe me if I tell you," I said.

My dad quirked an eyebrow at me, "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Leah was the gray wolf," Edward said.

"What? Impossible," Dad replied. Disbelief colored his tone.

"Told you that you wouldn't believe it," I said.

"That still doesn't explain what _he_ is talking about," Dad said.

"_He _has a name," I said in a pissed tone. Edward had probably just saved my dad life; he could at least be polite. Edward seemed to shrug off the rudeness of my Dad.

"Demetri is a tracker, the best in the world, but for some reason this vampire is able to elude him," Edward explained.

"Not a very good tracker if he's able to be eluded," Dad said.

"Do you always have to get in the last jab?" I asked annoyed.

"They shouldn't be here," Dad said.

"You'd be dead if they weren't here!" I yelled. "Do you know how fucking close he came to you?"

"Jake…"

"NO! I've heard enough of this petty bullshit," I was getting so angry that I felt a shudder pass through me.

"Jake. You need to calm down," Edward said as he stepped backward and pushed my father away from me.

"He saved your life and you can't even fucking be polite. It's my fucking job to protect this tribe and I will do it as I see fit. The least you could do is back me up instead of fighting me and being disrespectful to those who help us," I said with another shudder passing through me.

"Jake, you really need to calm down," Edward said again. Before I could reply I felt a massive wave of calm emotions engulf me.

"Edward is right. You really do need to calm down Jake," I heard Jasper say as he approached us. I don't remember anything after that except for seeing black.

It was the first time I had lost my temper since I had phased. I'm not sure what would have happened if Jasper hadn't shown up at that moment, but passing out was probably the best-case scenario.

I finally came to a few hours later. When I opened my eyes, I could see my dad and Jasper sitting in our living room talking.

"He's waking up," I heard Jasper say.

"Jake?" Dad said.

"Yeah, I'm awake," I replied, "What happened?"

"You blacked out from emotional overload," Jasper said.

I turned toward my Dad, "Sorry I got upset."

"I think I'm the one who owes you an apology. Jasper and I have been speaking while you were sleeping," Dad said.

"Oh?"

"Jasper told me about his past, and a little about the Cullen family," Dad said.

"Your dad and I reached an understanding. He knows that my family is not a threat to the tribe, and that if we work together we can put an end to this vampire who is threatening all of you," Jasper added.

"I take it that means that Demetri didn't catch him?" I said.

"No. He's very upset about not being able to get a good read on this guy. We didn't even get a good look at this guy. Edward said the vampire had a slight olive tone to his skin, black hair and slightly muscular. We sadly didn't get a good look at him, and that description can fit almost half the vampire population. Most European vampires have a slight olive tone to their skin," Jasper answered.

I sighed, "Nothing is ever easy."

"If it were easy, it wouldn't be worth doing," Dad said.

"Now that you are awake I will be off,"

"Thank you for your help today," I said.

"I just wish we had stopped him," Jasper said, and then headed for the door.


	9. The Sun is shining…

**Chapter 8: The Sun is shining…**

**PoV: Jacob**

It was probably the last sunny day before the weather turned cold. Most of the locals were taking advantage of the nice weekend weather. First Beach was filled with people from the tribe and Forks. I decided to take advantage of the sunny weather by lounging on the beach.

"Déjà vu?" Leah said as she sat herself down beside me on the beach.

"Let's hope not," I said in reference to our adventure two weeks ago.

"Agreed."

"How are you adjusting?" I asked.

"It's weird and totally freaky," Leah replied.

"Yeah, but it's kind of cool too," I said.

"No it's not," Leah snapped in an angry tone. I was taken aback by her tone of voice.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. I could see tears welling up in her eyes.

"I think I know why Sam imprinted on Emily," Leah said. This had me curious; everyone had their own opinions on imprinting, but the most convincing argument I heard came from Sue.

"Why?"

"Because I'm a genetic dead-end," Leah responded.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"I'm three weeks late, Jake."

"Three weeks… Oh!" I said as it hit me what she was staying. "Umm… So are you sick or something?"

"I'm not pregnant if that is what you are asking. I've been late once before, but that was only a few days. It's never been this long, but that's not all. I have no sex drive anymore," Leah explained.

"Oh…" I replied. I was a guy this stuff was totally uncomfortable and awkward to talk about. I think Leah realized that as she looked over at me.

"Since I can't give him children I think that is why Sam imprinted on Emily."

"Don't tell me you believe Uley's bullshit about imprinting having to do with passing on the wolf gene," I said annoyed.

"It makes sense," Leah countered.

"No it doesn't, especially not in your case."

"Jake, weren't you listening? I haven't had my period in almost seven weeks," Leah said, and I winced.

"I heard you the first time, but if Sam's theory was correct then you would have been a better choice to pass on the wolf gene," I began.

"You aren't listening," Leah said angrily.

"Just let me finish," I said annoyed. "You also have the wolf gene, and since a child gets half their genes from each parent there would be a higher chance of a child getting the gene if both his parents have it."

"You might be right, but I can't pass on the gene if I can't ovulate," Leah countered, and I winced again. _'Did she really have to be so graphic?'_

Damn it sucked talking about female stuff. "This could just be a temporary thing you are going through. I don't think you should get too worried about it just yet."

"What if it's not temporary?" Leah asked, and I could see the tears streaming down her face.

"I'm not a doctor, Leah. This is a conversation you should have with your mom or with one of the Cullen Doctors."

"Mom thinks like you that it's a temporary issue that will resolve itself."

"See, I told you I was right," I said with a laugh. Leah couldn't help but laugh through her tears.

"Mom wants me to speak to Carlisle about running some test, and talk about my options," Leah said.

"I'd offer to go with you, but talking about female stuff makes me queasy," I joked.

"Yeah, I can see you turning green as we speak," Leah smirked.

"How are patrols with Jared?" I said, changing the subject to something less uncomfortable.

"Better then with Sam, but I think I'd prefer to patrol with Quil after he's done his training," Leah said.

"I'll be done training Quil in a few days, then we can look at the patrol schedule."

"Where is he anyway? I figured he'd be glued to your side," Leah questioned.

"He went cliff diving with Jared, and I think Paul joined them too."

"They better not have taken Seth with them. Mom will have a fit if she catches him cliff diving," Leah responded as she looked toward the cliffs.

"I spoke to Demetri yesterday," I said.

"Did he find the bloodsucker?" Leah asked.

"No, and I'm pretty sure he's pissed about it," I answered.

"I thought he was supposed to be some awesome tracker?" Leah retorted.

"According to Jasper, he is the best tracker on the planet. He can track anyone anywhere after he's gotten the _'flavor'_ of their mind. The problem is he didn't get anything on the rogue," I said.

"I thought he and Emmett were tracking the rogue?" Leah replied.

"They were tracking his scent, but from what I gather that is only helpful to a point. Demetri has never tracked that way. They tracked the scent to Crescent Bay, but then he crossed the Salish Sea. It took Demetri all of last week to find the scent near Brunswick Beach where the rogue came out of the water."

"That's good, but why do I get the impression they've stopped searching?" Leah asked.

"They did, because the rogue headed east and kept crossing the various lakes along the way. Demetri got frustrated with trying to find the scent on the other side. They know he's gone east, and they hope that they've scared him off.

"Let's hope they are right," Leah added. "So when do you think Paul will join us?"

"Probably in a few weeks if things continue as they have been," I answered. My eyes looked out over the water.

"I'm just happy that Seth won't have to go through this," Leah said with a sigh.

"Don't take this the wrong way Leah, but I almost wish he would," I said turning to look at her. "He use to hang out with all of us regularly and I haven't seen him in weeks. He's always getting left out now because we're constantly dealing with this fucking rogue vampire."

"I understand that he's getting left out and I feel bad about that, but I will not feel bad that he doesn't have to go through being a wolf," Leah responded.

"Do we know for sure that his dad isn't Quileute? From what I understand your Aunt Julia never filled in the Father's name on Seth's birth certificate."

"You're right, but mom is convinced that his father isn't Quileute."

"That has got to suck not knowing who your dad is," I said.

"As far as Seth has always been concerned he viewed Harry as his dad, and loved him like a father. He took Harry's death just as hard as I did," Leah said. "Mom has also always been his mom. He was much too young to remember Aunt Julia."

"We should try to do more things to include him. If your mom would let me I'd take him to Jasper and Edward's place to check out their sports cars," I said with a grin.

"You boys and your sports cars," Leah said with a smirk and a sigh. "I'll talk to mom and see what she says, but I'm going with you if she says yes."

I nodded. There was no use in arguing this point with Leah. Ever since the change Leah had become more protective of Seth. She had seen what nearly happened to my dad, and she took it to heart. I know that she hadn't gotten much sleep the first few days after she phased.

Leah and I turned our heads toward the cliffs when we heard a splash. A few seconds later we saw Jared emerge with a huge grin on his face.

"Idiot," Leah said.

"Oh come on Leah, you know you want to do it too," I challenged.

"No thanks. I prefer running."

Leah turned out to be the smallest of the wolves, but she was also the fastest of all of us. She even beat me in a race around the patrol route with time to spare.

I shivered as I felt the wind pick up in speed. I looked off into the distance and I could see storm clouds forming on the horizon.

I sighed, "So much for a sunny day."

Another splash and Quil emerged from the water a few seconds later. He was also grinning from ear to ear.

"Idiots," I said.

"Oh come on Jakey, you know you want to join them," Lead mocked.

"It's not nice to mock the chief," I laughed. The wind picked up again and a gust came in off the water. The wind was cold and I shivered again. I stopped laughing a second later when I heard someone scream out in pain.

I turned just in time to see two bodies tumbling into the water by the cliffs. I was on my feet before the thought had entered my brain. I heard the echo of the two bodies hitting the water, and it didn't sound good.

"Jared!" I yelled. He was standing a dozen yards ahead of me staring at the same scene I was. He turned his head when he heard me yell his name. "GO!"

I watched him take off running for the water with me hot on his heels. Jared dove in and I was a few seconds behind him. Whoever the two people were that had fallen in hadn't returned to the surface.

I spotted Jared heading for one of the boys that had fallen, and I searched the water and spotted a second boy and headed for him. I kicked my legs with as much force as my muscles could muster.

The boy was facing away from me when I reached him. I quickly wrapped my right arm under one of his and across his chest and pulled him to me. I turned and headed up toward the surface as fast as I could.

I could hear yelling as I broke the surface. I turned to make sure I'd gotten the boy above water, and that's when I noticed who it was. "Seth!"

He didn't respond and I could see he had a lot of injuries. I headed for the shore and swam as quickly as I could.

"Someone call 911!" I heard someone yell.

"Quil, get over here!" I yelled as I neared shore. I didn't want Leah seeing Seth until we could get him on the beach. Luck was on my side as I saw Leah's back to me and a phone to her ear.

Quil ran over to the shore, and helped me get Seth onto the beach. "Careful he's hurt real bad," I said.

We got him on his back, and I knew I needed to check if he was breathing; there was no movement of his chest and I could hear no breathing as I listened. I check his mouth to make sure his airway was open, and then check his pulse. There was no pulse and he wasn't breathing.

I noticed purple splotches on Seth's chest, but decide that CPR was necessary regardless of his injuries. I hoped that I was making the right decision. I began chest compressions, and counting each one in my head. When I got to twenty he started coughing up water. I turned him on his side to help expel the water from his lungs, and that's when I saw the huge gash ripped into the back of his leg.

"I need someone's belt" I yelled. I could see that Seth was bleeding heavily from the leg wound that looked like it went to the bone.

Leah turned at that moment and saw Seth lying on the ground in front of me. "SETH!"

Quil jumped up and grabbed hold of Leah keeping her back. She struggled against Quil, and thankfully wasn't able to pull free of him.

A blond haired guy from Forks, whose name I couldn't remember handed me his belt. I ignored Leah and proceeded to use the belt as a tourniquet. I remember from my first aid training that a major artery ran down the leg, and I didn't want Seth bleeding to death.

I laid Seth on his back when he stopped coughing up water. His eyes were frantic, and filled fear. "Seth, look at me," I said.

His eyes met mine and I could see he understood me, but they weren't focusing on me. His eyes looked funny, but I couldn't tell what was off about them. Before I had time to think about it more I heard the sirens from the Ambulances arriving to the beach.

Two paramedics came running over almost immediately. One went to the other boy, who I noticed was Paul, and the other came over to where I was with Seth.

"Tell me what happened," The paramedic said.

"I think they were cliff diving, but I'm not sure. I was on the beach when I heard someone scream and I saw them falling into the water. Jared and I dove in after them," I said.

The paramedic began checking Seth over. "What's his name?"

"Seth."

"Seth? Can you hear me?" The paramedic asked.

Seth groaned, and then responded in a harsh whisper, "Yes."

"I started CPR because he wasn't breathing and had no pulse, and got the water out of his lungs. There is also this big gash on the back of his right leg," I added.

Another Paramedic arrived with a backboard and I moved out of the way as he too started evaluating Seth.

The first Paramedic keyed up his radio. "Dispatch."

"Dispatch, go ahead."

"We have two injured. Notify Forks that we have major trauma and possible head injury."


	10. Breakable

**Chapter 9: Breakable**

**PoV: Jasper**

"Dr. Hale?" Angela called out.

"Yes, Angela?" I replied as I exited a patient room.

"EMT Dispatch needs to know what to do with two trauma patients involved in a cliff diving accident in La Push," Angela replied.

"Tell them to bring the patients here, and I need to know their current condition. Also page my father, and Edward," I answered.

"Katie, Austin!" I called out. Both of them came over immediately. "Katie, I want you to prep room one and you'll help Carlisle. Austin I want you to prep room two, and I'll tell you where I need you after we know the condition of the two patients."

"Yes, sir," They both said and took off to prep the rooms for the trauma patients.

I headed to the nurse's station and dropped off my tablet pc. Angela was finishing up with Dispatch.

"Here is what I've got from Dispatch," Angela began. "First patient is eighteen years old with possible broken bones on the left side of his body; he's alert and responding to questions. They don't think his injuries are currently life threatening, but they are critical."

"What about the other patient?" I asked.

"Sixteen years old, with numerous broken bones on the right side of his body. There is a large gash in the back of his right leg, and they've placed a tourniquet above the knee. That leg is also broken in several places. However, they are concerned because his eyes won't focus and they think he may have a head injury," Angela explained.

"Everyone, gather around," I called out.

Edward and Carlisle arrived to the ER a few seconds later. I ran through the injuries that Angela had gotten from dispatch. "Carlisle, Katie and Austin on the first Patient, Edward, Angela and I will take the second patient."

Everyone acknowledged their understanding of my orders and I headed for the Ambulance bay with Edward to wait for the patients. Carlisle and Austin joined us a moment later. Angela and Katie were waiting in the trauma rooms.

The Ambulances arrived one after the other. The first one pulled into the bay and I was opening the doors to the back the moment it came to a stop.

"Which patient is this one?" I asked.

"Head injury," The paramedic said.

I hit the release on the stretcher lock and it started rolling toward me. Edward got on the other side and we pulled it out of the ambulance as the paramedic followed with the IV fluids. I grabbed the fluids from the paramedic and Edward and I raced through the doors without even looking at the patient.

It wasn't until we were in the room that I noticed who the kid was. "Seth?"

Edward's head snapped in my direction and then over to Seth's face. "Where is Sue?"

"She wasn't in the ambulance," I said.

"Angela, call up to the nurses' station and tell them not to let Sue back here!" Edward said.

Edward and I immediately transferred Seth from the stretcher to the emergency room bed. I gloved up and immediately began assessing his injuries. It took me less than a minute to mentally catalog all his injuries. The gash in his leg would need surgery to repair, and I could see that the bone was shattered when I removed the temporary dressing the paramedics had put on to control bleeding.

"We need to run a CT scan ASAP!" Edward said after his initial exam.

"How bad is the head injury?" I asked.

"I think he has an intracranial hematoma pressing on the right frontal lobe. His pupils are dilated to different sizes. He also appears lethargic," Edward answered.

"Put an emergency rush on that CT Scan. We need to get him into surgery stat if there is anything there," I ordered.

Angela put in the orders for the CT scan and Radiology work up needed. I checked on the gash and made sure that the bleeding was minimized, and ordered up two pints of type O blood.

I grabbed two clamps and immediately attached them to the main artery in the leg that was still oozing blood. I made a quick suture repair that I would have to finalize in surgery. I removed the clamps and the tourniquet, which allowed blood flow to continue down his leg. I made sure that he didn't have any other major bleeding.

"Angela I want you to get Seth hooked up for the blood transfusion as soon as it gets here," I said.

I was about to give her further orders when the Code alarm went off next door. "Go!" I said to Angela.

I stayed with Seth while Angela and Edward headed next door to help Carlisle with the other patient. I immediately set about preparing Seth to be moved for the CT scan. We'd do the x-rays in the OR.

"Where is Seth?" I heard Sue yelled.

'_Fuck,'_ I thought. I left the room and ordered the nearest nurse into the room to watch Seth. Sue was at the Nurses' station arguing with Katie, who was trying to keep her from going back.

"Sue."

"Jasper, where is Seth?" Sue asked. Her voice was desperate.

"He's being prepared for a CT scan. You can't go back there Sue, you know the rules," I replied.

Sue pushed pass Katie. "Katie, go back to Carlisle, I'll handle things here," I said.

"Jasper, I need to see him."

"Sue, that wouldn't be a good idea. Trust me you don't want to see him like this," I said trying to persuade her without using my gift.

"All the more reason for you to let me back there," Sue argued, "If… If… he doesn't make it…"

"Sue, you have three of the best doctors on the planet looking after him. Trust me we'll do everything we can to make sure he makes it."

"Please, just let me tell him I love him. Just one minute, that's all," Sue pleaded with tears streaming down her face. I could feel her desperation, and fear. It was impossible to ignore.

I sighed, "One minute, Sue. We have to get him to that CT scan. Trauma Room One."

Sue ran past me and into the room I'd exited earlier. I followed after her and dismissed the nurse I'd sent him.

"Seth, honey, its mom," Sue said while taking hold of Seth's left hand.

Seth turned his head toward Sue, but she could immediately tell something was wrong. "Mmm… mom," Seth said in a weak voice.

"What's wrong with him?" Sue asked in a frantic voice.

"We can't be sure until we get the CT scan, but Edward thinks he has intracranial bleeding that is causing pressure on the right frontal lobe. However, that's just one of the many injuries," I replied.

Sue took a moment and looked over Seth from head to toe. "Sue, we need to go. Time is seriously of the essence here."

Sue turned back to Seth. "Seth, mommy loves you. I'll be here when you wake up."

Sue kissed Seth on the forehead, and stepped back just as Edward returned to the room.

"They are ready to do the CT scan, we need to go now!" Edward's voice held a serious concerned edge to it that bothered me. We'd done our residency at Massachusetts General in Boston, where we'd seen our fair share of traumatic injuries and we'd even had patients die, but never had it been the son of a co-worker; and someone I was starting to form a friendship with.

"Sue, go to the waiting room. We'll be out after surgery," I said. Edward released the brakes on the bed and we began moving him out of the room.

"Angela," I called out as we were wheeling Seth out of the ER.

"Yes, Dr. Hale?"

"Get to the OR and suit up. You're on the surgical team," I said. I wanted a nurse who I worked with helping in there. Both Edward and I had worked with Angela and other then Sue she was the best damn nurse this hospital had.

We got to Seth to the radiology and they quickly got him setup to run the test. Edward and I went into the control room to watch the images come up on the screen.

"What happened with that code?" I asked.

"Pneumothorax, but Carlisle was able to drain the fluid buildup in the chest wall. I intubated and we were able to end the respiratory distress," Edward responded, but his eyes were focused on the computer monitor watching the images come up.

"There!" Edward said pointing at the screen. "Focus on that area and get me three more images."

"I'll go suit up. I'll see you in the OR," I said and left. I Ran down to the OR as quickly as humanly possible without drawing attention to myself.

Angela was in the prep room finishing up the gloving process. I could feel her emotions were expressing a great deal of nervousness.

I started by washing my hands and arms, while Angela struggled with her last glove. "Angela, just relax," I said while sending her calming waves.

"Sorry, I've actually never worked in the OR before today," Angela replied.

"Trust me, you'll do fine. You handle working in the ER better than almost every nurse I've ever worked with. The OR is a more controlled and usually less chaotic environment. All you have to do is stay focused on the assigned tasked and stay calm," I said coaching her.

Angela nodded, "I know that, but this just feels so different. This isn't some random patient we are about to operate on. This is Sue's son, and I'm a little freaked out about something going wrong."

"If something doesn't go as planned, then just follow the instructions that Edward gives you. He'll be in-charge when we get in there, because he's the Neurosurgeon. I'll be working on Seth's leg, but whatever happens in there it's Edward who calls the shots."

The door to the prep room opened. Edward and Nancy, the Nurse Anesthesiologist, came in to glove up.

"The orderlies are waiting by the OR entrance with Seth," Edward said. They couldn't enter the OR because it's a clean room.

"I'll get him," I said. I finished pulling on my last glove and Angela followed me into the room. I headed for the entrance and pushed the door open with my shoulder. The orderlies put Seth part way through the door then I took over.

As soon as we got Seth in place I moved to his side. "Seth, can you hear me?"

"Yes," Seth replied, but his speech was still very weak.

"I'm Doctor Hale. We met a few weeks ago before I moved to Forks. You and Jacob were admiring my motorcycle. Do you remember?"

"Yes."

"Good. Seth, we are going to have to operate on you to fix your injuries. We are going to put you to sleep while we work on you so you don't feel any pain. When you wake up you'll be able to see you mom again," I said.

"My head hurts," Seth said weakly.

"We're going to make it better," I responded.

"Dr. Hale, I'm ready to administer the atheistic," Nancy said. I moved and allowed Nancy to move near Seth so she could start.

"Seth, I want you to start counting backwards from ten," Nancy said.

"10… 9… 8…" That was the last number he said before he was under Anesthesia.

Edward used a marker to draw on Seth's head. "Angela, I need you to shave his hair from the area I've marked."

Edward and I reviewed the CT Scans while Angela shaved away Seth's hair. "I think I can get it drained by doing an Endoscopic procedure and using a catheter. It's not big enough yet to require more invasive surgery."

"It looks about four to four and a half centimeters, the same size of that one from the car accident the last week we were in residency. My concern is blood loss. He's already taken two pints, and I put in an order for four more pints for while we are operating. I'm hoping that is enough," I responded.

"It should be. As long as the bleeding has slowed enough in his head it shouldn't be an issue," Edward said.

"You're the boss; tell me what you want me to do."

"Go ahead and work on his leg. If I need you to stop, I'll let you know."

"He's ready Dr. Cullen," Angela said.

Edward's first step was to intubate Seth for the surgery and recovery period. The ventilator would do the breathing for him and allow him to recover more quickly. When Seth was situated, we proceeded.

I had a radiologist come in and get x-ray images of his right leg, and chest. He had two fractured ribs, but they wouldn't require any major intervention on my part to heal.

The nurse who I had sent in while talking to Sue had re-wrapped Seth's leg, so I started by removing the dressing. My first step was to repair the damage to the Popliteal Artery. Using sutures and graphs, I was quickly able to make a permanent repair of the damage and allow blood flow to continue.

My next step was to evaluate his tibia and determine the best course of action for repair. The bone had broken in two places, but there were a few smaller chips where the leg had impacted against a hard object. The blow to the leg appeared to have come from the front, which caused the bone to push through the calf muscle, and tore it.

I situated his leg in the correct position. I decided to go with plates to hold the bone in place. This would allow for Seth to be up and walking more quickly. The quicker we got him mobile the sooner he'd be able to go home.

Angela got me the necessary items to repair the break, and then she focused on helping Edward who had finished creating the keyhole for the endoscope.

I placed the plate, and then screwed it into place on the bone. It was important to me to get this perfect, and to do it without mistakes. I still took my time making sure everything was in the correct place. I knew my enhanced abilities could certainly speed things up, but I didn't want to miss something by going faster than necessary.

I set about cleaning the leg wound after I was satisfied with the condition of the repair to his tibia. I had used two long plates and six screws to put his leg back together. These would be permanent parts of his leg.

Cleaning the wound of foreign objects took longer than I had anticipated. The beach sand had gotten deep into the flesh of his leg. It needed to be completely removed to prevent infections and for the wound to heal without any irritation.

'_Finally,'_ I heard Edward project to me. _'Intracranial bleeding has stopped.'_

I sutured the wound. I started by stitching the muscle with stitches that would dissolve on their own. The last part was stitching the outside of the wound. These stitches would need to be removed in a week or two depending on how the wound was healing.

Edward was finishing up with bandaging Seth's head as I was wrapping up with Seth's leg. I still had to immobilize his leg, but we'd be done with the operation after that. The entire operation had gone smoothly, and that was a good sign.

Twenty minutes later Seth's leg was immobilized, and I had taped his fractured ribs, and he was being taken off the anesthesia. Edward was dictating out the medication list to Angela for what we wanted him on in ICU. Edward had ordered pain medication, a sedative, antibiotics, and saline solution.

As I looked up at the clock it showed that we'd been in here for almost three hours. I gave Seth an injection for the pain, because the anesthesia was wearing off quickly. He'd be awake in just a few minutes.

"Seth, can you hear me?" Edward asked as he took Seth's left hand. "If you can I need you to squeeze my hand.

Seth moaned, but couldn't speak because of the ventilator tube, "Seth if you can hear me I want you to squeeze my hand."

Seth responded, but moaned again. Edward opened Seth's eyes and checked his pupils. "They are the same size."

That was a relief to hear. It meant that Edward has cleared out the hematoma, and Seth wasn't in as much danger anymore.

I headed into the prep room to clean up. I continued to listen to Edward as he talked to Seth.

"Seth, we're going to take you to the recovery room. You'll be able to see your mom for a few minutes, and then we're going to move you to ICU for a few days. You're going to be asleep while your body recovers," Edward explained. It was unlikely that Seth would understand all this, but some patients did.

I quickly stripped off the disposable items that I was wearing then washed up. I then picked up the phone in the prep room and called down to ER nurse's station.

"This is Katie."

"Katie, this is Dr. Hale. Please let Sue Clearwater know that she and one other immediate family member can go to the recovery room to see Seth. Dr. Cullen and I will speak to her shortly."

"I'll let her know immediately," Katie said. I could hear the relief in her voice. I think everyone in the hospital would be relieved to hear that it went well.

I hung up the phone as Edward came into the prep room to clean up. We then spent the next twenty minutes entering everything into Seth's file and going over the operation between the two of us to see if we had missed anything. We'd gotten everything and now it was just waiting for his body to heal.

Sue had returned to the waiting room by the time Edward and I arrived. It appeared that everyone in La Push was in the waiting room. It was packed with people waiting for news.

"Hello, Sue," I said as I entered.

"Hello, Jasper. Seth looks better," She replied.

I nodded, "Would you like us to discuss this with everyone or do you want to discuss this privately?"

"Everyone is concerned with how he is doing, so please continue."

"Very well, Edward will start," I said.

"Hello. For those who do not know me. I'm Dr. Edward Cullen, Chief Neurosurgeon. Seth Clearwater came into the Emergency Room today with numerous traumatic injuries. The injuries included a blow to the head, which led to a hematoma. In plain English he had a buildup of blood on the right front side of his head."

"That's bad, right?" Someone asked.

"In Seth's case it is a bad thing. A hematoma that is less then 10mL, which is about the amount of blood is taken during a normal blood test, is not considered life threatening and will normally heal on its own. However, in Seth's case the amount of blood pressing down on the brain was much higher than that. The hematoma covered a little over four centimeters of the front lobe, which is about two inches," Edward answered.

Edward paused to see if everyone was following along. "Intracranial bleeding, which is bleeding in your head, isn't like when you cut yourself with a knife. When you cut yourself the blood will just flow out onto the skin and has a place to go. When you have bleeding in your head it had nowhere to go. It will instead put pressure on the brain, which if it's large enough and left untreated can lead to death."

"Is Seth going to be okay?" Jacob asked, it was the first time I'd seen him tonight. I hadn't seen him expressing this much concern since the day the mystery vampire had nearly attacked his father. His emotions echoed the pain etched on his face.

"I was able to stop the bleeding and remove the hematoma using an endoscopic procedure, which is less invasive then a craniotomy. There is only a small hole that will be surgically repaired at a later date. So long as there are no complications, which I do not anticipate any, then Seth should make a full recovery," Edward responded.

A sigh of relief could be heard through the whole room at Edward's words. "I don't want to dampen the mood, but he did have other injuries we need to discuss," Edward added.

"His leg," Jacob said.

"Yes. I operated on Seth's leg. He had two breaks in the tibia bone, which is the shin bone. The impact to the bone caused it to tear the calf muscle and damaged the Popliteal artery, which I also repaired. I had to insert two plates in Seth's leg to hold the bone in place while it heals. The plates will remain after the bone has fully healed. The Calf muscle had to be stitched both inside and then again on the surface of the leg," I explained.

"Was that injury life threatening?" Another person asked.

"If left untreated it would have been, yes. In fact whoever used the belt to form a tourniquet on his leg probably saved his life. Arteries carry a lot of blood and a person can bleed to death very quickly."

"That was Jake, he performed first aid on Seth while we waited for the paramedics," Quil said.

"How soon can we see him?" one of the other boys asked.

"Currently only immediate family is allowed to see him while he is in ICU. After he is moved to a private room in a few days he will be allowed more visitors," I replied.

I noticed that this seemed to affect Jacob greatly. I knew that Jacob was at least friends with Seth, but I didn't know how close they were. It wouldn't have surprised me if Seth looked up to Jacob as an older brother.

"Sue, after they get Seth situated in ICU you can see him again this evening. However, we've got him sedated so that he can rest and so that his body will heal. I don't intend to wake him for the next couple of days," Edward said.

"Thank you," Sue said.

"If you will excuse us," I said. Edward and I turned and left room. We headed to the nurses' station to get an update on the other patient when I smelled one of the Quileute wolves behind us.

"Excuse me," I heard the person say. I turned to see Leah standing there.

"Yes, Leah?"

"Would it be possible to make an exception for someone else to see Seth?" she asked.

"The hospital typically limits the visitors in ICU to immediate family, but if the exception is approved by the family most hospitals will honor it," I responded.

"So if I approve an exception for Jacob, you all would allow him to see it?"

"Well the exception would need to come from Sue, since she is Seth's legal guardian. If she approves then yes I'll let Jacob see Seth."

"Thank you, it'll mean a lot to Jacob. Mom and I owe him at least this much. If it hadn't been for Jacob, Seth probably wouldn't be alive," Leah said. I could see her fighting back the tears.

"I'm sorry; I'm not familiar with what happened at the beach. I only know that he performed first aid; from what Quil said."

"He dove in after Seth. I don't think he knew who it was at the time. He and Jared just dove in after the Seth and Paul when we heard the screams. Jacob stayed calm and preformed first aid on Seth," Leah explained.

"Jacob did a good job then. How exactly did this accident happen? We heard it was likely cliff diving," Edward said.

"Jared and Quil were being stupid and cliff diving, "Leah said, and then whispered "They were taking advantage of their new abilities."

"Cliff diving is very dangerous. I hope this has taught them a lesson," Edward said.

"They've been worried sick about Seth and Paul, but there will be hell to pay after all this is behind us. Seth is like Jacob's little brother, and he's the only link my mom has left to my Aunt Julia," Leah said.

"Wait, Seth is your Aunt Julia's son? I thought he was Sue's son," I said.

Leah shook her head, "No, it's a long story. You should probably ask mom about it."

"I'm sorry; I don't mean to keep you Leah. Get your mom to approve Jacob's visit and I'll be sure that he's allowed into Seth's room."

"Thank you," Leah replied then returned to the waiting room.


	11. The Wait

**Chapter 10: The Wait**

**PoV: Edward**

Sue and Leah spent about thirty minutes with Seth. Jasper had convinced Sue to go home and rest. There was little reason for her to stay in the hospital overnight. I fully intended to keep Seth sedated for a minimum of twenty-four hours, but would likely extend that to thirty-six hours to allow his body to heal.

It was now all about waiting for his body to be ready to deal with the stresses that would be placed on him while in the hospital. I know most patients would agree that a hospital is not the best place to get rest when you are sick or injured. It seems that there is always a nurse or doctor around to poke and prod you every time you fall asleep.

I also wanted Seth to be up and mobile as soon as possible. I knew that Jasper agreed with me on that front, which is why he had used plates instead of a pin or just screws to put Seth's Tibia back together. The plates would help Seth's Tibia support his weight when we got him up and walking.

I had convinced Jasper to go home after Sue had left. There was no need for him to stay overnight with me here. The major trauma injuries had all been fixed; the only major concern would be new intracranial bleeding.

I hadn't admitted to anyone, not even Jasper how close we had come to losing Seth. The fluid buildup on the brain had been cleared easily, but it continued to bleed. My mind was freaking out the entire time I was trying to get it under control. I had to draw on all my education just to stay focused. I had to push all the concerns of everyone in the hospital out of my head.

No one in that operating room noticed any change in my demeanor or actions. Everyone just assumed that I was doing what was needed. Jasper was too focused on the task of rebuilding Seth's leg to notice the change in me, or if he did, he didn't think about it.

Seth wasn't just another patient to us. He was Sue's son, Jacob's friend and someone that Jasper and I had once met. This was so much different than some unknown person who was brought in. I tell myself that I wouldn't have done anything different than I would have for that unknown person, but a part of me knows I'd have tried a little harder if things had gotten worse.

I listened to the thoughts of the nurses in ICU as they kept watch over Seth and Paul. Paul had fared better in the accident then Seth, in someone ways. His injuries were dangerous and life threatening, but could be more easily treated. A collapsed lung, Pneumothorax, is a dangerous condition. Thankfully Carlisle caught it immediately after it happened. One of Paul's ribs that had been broken in the fall had managed to puncture his left lung. It caused the chest wall to fill with fluid. Clearing the fluid from the chest cavity and intubating had allowed us to inflate his lung again. Other than a few broken bones, he had been lucky.

Before the changes here at the hospital Seth would have been airlifted to Haborview Memorial Hospital in Seattle. The rate of the intracranial bleeding would have made it unlikely that he would have survived the helicopter flight. He had also lost at least two pints of blood before we had started the transfusion in the Emergency room. Another pint at least from just the intracranial bleeding before I finally got it under control, and then a pint or two from the leg wound. Of the four pints ordered for the operating room; only one went unused.

It was time to check on my patient again. I had made it a ritual to go down to the ICU every hour and check on Seth. I know I could have just listened to the thoughts of the nurses, but I needed to see for myself. It was a little after two in the morning.

"Hello Dr. Cullen," Ryan said as I entered ICU. He was the nurse taking care of Seth.

"Hello Ryan," I replied.

"There has been no change."

I smiled and nodded, but headed into the room myself. The first thing I noticed was that Jacob was still there, but he was sound asleep in the chair by Seth's bed. Sue had granted permission for him to visit Seth, but I hadn't anticipated him staying so long.

"He didn't want to leave his side, so I didn't push it. I didn't think it would cause any harm," Ryan said as he entered behind me.

"It's fine. I'm just a little surprised to see Jacob still here."

"He appeared very concerned, and asked a lot of questions when he first came in to visit. I get the impression that they are very close," Ryan explained further. There seemed to be a double meaning to his words, but I brushed it aside.

Ryan was one of the few other people that lived in Forks and was openly gay. He wasn't the type to be out and flaming, as the saying goes. He was quiet, and kept his sexuality to himself unless someone asked. I had seen all this in his thoughts many times before.

I looked over the vitals report, and the latest blood test that had been done an hour earlier. Everything looked good, and was progress as could be expected.

"You should get some sleep Dr. Cullen. I will page you if anything changes," Ryan said.

"I've tried, but can't seem to fall asleep," I replied, "Page me if anything changes."

I didn't need to draw attention to myself. As hard as it would be I needed to stay locked in my office for the rest of the night so to give the appearance that I was sleeping. I left ICU and returned to my office. There was little for me to do for the next few hours.

As the sun was rising a few hours later I tuned into Ryan's thoughts. He was checking Seth's vital again, and everything was normal. I sighed internally with relief that everything was still progressing normally. I was about to tune everyone out when Jacob's thoughts caught my attention.

He was dreaming, but it was of what had happened earlier in the day. I could tell from the dreams that his mind was piecing together the things he had heard from witnesses who had seen the accident unfold.

He appeared to be looking at Seth and Paul on the cliff about to jump together. It took me a moment to realize that he wasn't looking at this scene with his own eyes, but that of someone else. Everything seems to happen in slow motion.

The boys start their jump and barely make it off the cliff ledge before they are thrown back into the cliff face with great force. There was no external force that I could see acting on them, and then I feel a shiver in Jacob's thoughts as he thinks of cold. I realize that the force is from a cold gust of wind.

The scene continues to play out as both Seth and Paul make contact with the cliff wall. The right side of Seth's body hits the cliff wall with great force and I hear a scream in Jacob's thoughts. The scene shifts as Jacob's eyes turn toward the scene. He watches for a split second as the boys tumble toward the water.

The dream ends and I heard a scream in Ryan's thoughts as he is startled by Jacob's sudden outburst.

'_Jacob, are you alright?'_ Ryan asked.

'_Yeah, sorry… just a bad dream,'_ Jacob replies with his thoughts having an unsteady edge to them. I can tell his breathing is labored as he tries to regain control of himself.

I decide to head down and talk to Jacob. I think he needs a change of atmosphere for a bit. The hallways are mostly deserted this morning as there are few people in the hospital.

Ryan stops me when I enter ICU. "Good Morning Dr. Cullen, how did you sleep?"

"Surprisingly well after my mind settle down," I lied smoothly. Ryan didn't pick up on it.

"Seth made it through the night with no complications, but his friend seems to have had a bad dreamed. He's also unsettled since the dream," Ryan added.

"I'll speak with Jacob, perhaps a change of scenery would do him good after being in that room all night," I suggested.

Ryan nodded his head in agreement.

I entered Seth's room and check his vitals report. Jacob watched me intently as I looked it over. "How is he?"

"He's progressing as expected. We're going to keep him sedated for the rest of today and we'll see how he's doing tonight," I answered.

Jacob looked intently at Seth lying in the hospital bed hooked up to several machines helping him breath and monitoring his vitals. It's never a pretty sight for anyone to see.

"Come on I'll take you to get breakfast in the cafeteria. You look like you need a break from here for a bit," I offered.

"Umm…"

"Come on, Jake. It'll do you some good to get away for a bit, trust me," I added.

Jacob nodded, and then followed after me as I headed out of the room. "I'll page you if there is any change, Dr. Cullen," Ryan said as we headed out of ICU.

Jacob was quiet for the walk down to the cafeteria, and through the line. I grabbed a little of everything and then paid for the food. It was only after we sat down that Jacob seemed to focus on the here and now.

"Take what you want," I said.

Jacob grabbed an apple, but didn't bit into it immediately. "Leah tells me that Seth owes his life to you."

Jacob looked down at the food, "I didn't do anything special."

"That's not what I heard. You did a good thing, you should be proud of that."

"It was all autopilot. I don't remember much of what I did, just jumping in after him and Paul. I didn't even know it was them until we were back on the surface," Jacob's facial expression harden, "I ripped into Jared and Quil afterward about cliff diving. There stupidity nearly killed two of our friends."

"Kids do stupid things. They learn from their mistakes and grow up," I responded.

Jacob finally began to eat some of the food in front of him, but I could tell that he didn't have much of an appetite with everything weighing on his mind.

Sue and Leah had spent of the whole day with Seth, and by night time Jacob was back spending the overnight with him. I had gone home and Carlisle had stayed the second night.

By morning I was ready to take Seth off the sedatives. There had been no new intracranial bleeding, and he his vitals were normal. When I arrived at the hospital with Jasper over an hour ago, I put the order into my tablet PC and called down to Ryan in ICU that he was to stop the sedative.

Seth should be close to waking up. I had told Sue and Leah last night before I left that I planned on taking him off the sedatives in the morning unless there was a change in his progress. I knew they would be here early.

I met up with Jasper and we headed down to ICU together to check on our patient. "Do you know if Sue and Leah have arrived?"

"Yes, I saw them walk in earlier," Jasper replied as we entered ICU.

"Test results looked good this morning," Jasper added.

"Good morning, Dr. Cullen and Dr. Hale," Ryan greeted us.

"Good morning, Ryan," Jasper replied.

"Good morning, Ryan. Has Seth woken up yet?" I asked.

"Yes, he just woke up a few minutes ago," Ryan answered.

"Thank you."

We walked over to Seth's room and I knocked before entering. Sue was by Seth's left side holding his hand and smiling happily with tears welling up in her eyes. Leah stood beside her with a hand on her mom's shoulder. I also noticed that Jacob was sound asleep in the only chair in the room.

"Good morning," I said as I entered.

"It's a very good morning," Sue replied with a bright smile.

I walked over to Seth and gave him a quick visual exam and everything looked good. Jasper looked over his current vitals before taking a position at the foot of the bed.

"Good morning, Seth," I greeted as he made eye contact with me. His eyes reflected his freshly woken state. He was still unable to speak because he was still connected to the ventilator.

"I would like to do a few tests this morning to make sure that everything is progressing along as it should be. Is that okay?" I asked.

Seth looked at his mom, but I could hear his thoughts clearly.

'_Yes.'_ Seth thought as he squeezed Sue's hand once. Sue echoed his thoughts.

"These are simple test. First I am going to check you pupils to see how they respond to light. Look straight ahead," I said. Using a small pen light I check how Seth's pupils responded to the light. Seth blinked his eyes, but his pupils responded as expected.

"Okay, for this next test I want you to squeeze your mom's hand if you can feel when I touch you with my pen," I said.

I checked several areas on Seth's body to make sure there was no nerve damage that we hadn't found earlier. Seth hit all points on the left side of his body. He only missed 3 points on his right leg, which Jasper had anticipated.

"He didn't feel those?" Sue asked. Seth looked at his mom and you could see some worry in his eyes as his mind began to catch up with what was going on around him.

"No, but I anticipated that might be the case," Jasper answered, "I believe he could regain that feeling with time, but it will not impair his walking. He will, however, need to be cautious when he first starts walking again to adjust for the difference."

Seth moved his hand toward the ventilator tube in his mouth and Sue immediately grabbed his hand pulling it away. "Seth, you have to leave that in."

Seth groaned and pulled his hand away from his mom and looked at me and pointed to the tube.

"You want to know when it will come out?" I asked. Seth gave a small nod in reply.

"I want to leave it in until closer to lunch time. You are still waking up from the sedatives and I want to give your body time to adjust. We'll do a test a little later and we might take it out before lunch time," I answered.

Seth facial expressions dropped at the news. I didn't need Jasper's ability to know that he was upset. I could hear it in his thoughts.

'_I hope it comes out soon, it's really uncomfortable, and my chest hurts.'_ Seth thought.

"Does your chest hurt at all Seth?" I asked. I of course already knew the answer having hurt his thoughts, but Seth didn't know this and squeezed Sue's hand again.

Sue looked at us concerned, but I quickly explained. "Seth has two cracked ribs, but they do not pose a risk to his lungs. The pain is likely from those breaks, but I'll give him something for the pain."

"Unless Dr. Cullen here objects I want to have you sitting up in bed by lunch time, and by tomorrow I want you to be sitting in a chair before we move you to a private room," Jasper said.

Seth turned his attention Jasper as he continued to speak. "I've examined your leg," – he had done this while I had been explaining about the ventilator, — "and it is healing nicely. You were very lucky."

"How soon before he moves to a private room, there are a few people who have asked when they can see him," Sue asked.

"If all goes well, I'd like to have him in his own room by tomorrow afternoon," I said.

"I agree," Jasper added, "However, I'd like to make sure we don't go overboard with the visitors only a few people at a time and not for long periods. Seth is still recovering and we don't want to overload him with too much commotion."

"We'll leave you all to visit, and one or both of us will be back later this morning to remove the ventilator," I said.

Sue went over to Jasper and hugged him tightly, and he gently returned the hug. "Thank you," Sue said. Her voice was full of emotion.

"You're welcome, Sue. We're not out of the woods yet, but I think he'll be perfectly fine," Jasper replied.

Sue then hugged me with the same vigor, and I echoed Jasper's comments when she thanked me.

"We'll see you all later," I said after we had ended the hug. Jasper and I left to continue on with the rest of our day.

Jasper and I returned to ICU just before lunch time. We had ordered a breathing test to be completed an hour ago to see if Seth was ready to be taken off the ventilator. The test results looked good, and I had told Jasper I wanted to take him off the Ventilator.

I knocked on the door before entering, followed by Jasper.

'_I hope he's here to take this tube out,'_ Seth thought when he saw me enter the room.

"Hello Seth," I said. "Are you ready for that tube to come out?"

Seth nodded, _'Finally!'_

After removing the ventilator we put Seth on oxygen. "I want you to breathe through your nose while you're wearing this," I said.

"My throat hurts," Seth said in a raspy voice.

"The ventilator tube and lack of moisture in your throat is the cause of the pain. We'll get you ice chips to suck on and that will help. Also it would be best if you talk as little as possible until the pain stops," I replied.

"I already got them," Sue said, referring to the ice chips, as she returned to the room. I had asked her and Leah to step out while the Respiratory Tech and I removed the ventilator. Jasper had also stepped out with them to check on Paul.

Sue places one of the ice chips into Seth's mouth, "Let it melt."

"They should bring you lunch shortly. I will come back later this afternoon to check on you," I said.

I met up with Jasper upon exiting the room. "Walk with me," he said.

We headed toward our offices. "I spoke with Sue while you were in with Seth. She asked that I share out conversation with you."

Jasper shared his memories of the conversation with me. Sue had approached him when he exited Paul's room. She asked to speak privately with him. They entered one of the empty ICU rooms.

'_Leah told me of the conversation she had with you the night of Seth's accident. I felt I should talk to you about what she said,' Sue began._

'_It is really none of my business, Sue. It makes no difference in Seth's care if he is your son or nephew,' Jasper replied._

Sue smile, and thank Jasper. _'I feel it is important that you and Edward know the truth.'_

Sue took a deep breath and then launched into the story of Seth's short life. Julia was Sue's only sister. She was young, but very mature and intelligent. She had plans to leave La Push and go to school, but those plans never happened.

'_She came home one day after work and told me she was pregnant. When I asked who the father was she replied that she didn't know. It was the first time in many years that my sister lied to me. She knew who Seth's father was, but she refused to tell me. I pressed her about it for months, but she never relented.'_

'_Why wouldn't she tell you? I would think that she would want this person to be a part of Seth's life,' Jasper said._

'_All she would say is that it would not be in anyone's best interest for Seth's father to be named. She said it would only cause problems in this small community. I knew that people could be cruel with rumors and discrimination, but I still thought Seth's father should be involved.'_

Jasper didn't comment, but his thoughts on the subject were _troubled._ Sue continued on with her story.

'_Julia was already working one job, but she didn't have the income to support herself and a child. Harry and I insisted that she move in with us. She refused at first, but after a few months she finally gave in. I was able to help her with her pregnancy, and she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.'_

'_She must have been very proud,' Jasper said._

'_She was, and she loved Seth very much. Julia returned to work a month after Seth was born, but she didn't like charity. She took a second job working at a bar in Port Angeles. She was already working as a waitress at the time. I don't know how she did it, but she'd work twelve to fifteen hour days. She barely saw Seth,' Sue added._

Sue's emotions begin to overwhelm her momentarily, and Jasper sends her a wave of calm.

'_Seth was about a year old when Julia was killed in a car accident. She would often work late into the night. She had barely left Port Angeles when she was hit head on by a drunk driver. He was going much too fast, and the impact of the accident fatally injured Julia.'_

Sue took a deep breath, and Jasper again helped her say calm.

'_Her car didn't have an airbag, and the seatbelt failed to restrain her. She was first thrown forward and her head hit the steering wheel, and then she was knocked backward into the seat. The steering wheel was pushed into her chest. It took the emergency crew over twenty minutes to cut her out of the car. They airlifted her to Habourview, but she never made it. She died of intracranial bleeding.'_

It's no wonder that Sue had been in such a panic when she first came in. She had feared losing Seth to a similar injury that had claimed her sister.

'_After Julia's death we had to publish a noticed looking for Seth's father, but no one stepped forward. Julia had left Seth's care to Harry in and I in her will. There was also a letter addressed to me that begged me not to look for Seth's father. She said no good would come of it, and that I could destroy this person's career if I pressed the issue. Harry and I finally won approval to adopt Seth after no one came forward.'_

'_So you never found out who his father was? I don't understand how any father could abandon their child,' Jasper said._

'_I never said that I didn't find out. I respected Julia's wish and stopped looking, but there were signs. I found money orders made out to Julia among her possessions. None of them had been redeemed. Two weeks after Julia's death the Money Orders started coming in the mail addressed to me. So I knew that Seth's father was someone local. Part of me knew he wanted to be a part of Seth's life, but for some reason he didn't step forward. As Seth grew older he began to take on characteristics that weren't common in our family. I grew curious again, but I didn't go looking.'_

'_You had your suspicious I assume?' Jasper asked._

'_Yes, of course I did. Julia only had a few boyfriends, but I knew it was none of them. It had to have been someone she had recently started seeing in secret. I had a feeling that Julia had convinced this person to never come forward. She had always managed to get her way when we were growing up, so I had no doubts that she was able to get this person to agree.'_

'_You're not going to tell me who it is, are you?'_

Sue smiled, _'No. I made a promise when he finally came forward a few years ago. Well he didn't exactly come forward I sort confronted him about it. Julia had indeed made him promise to never come forward. Julia was right. If he came forward it would ruin him.'_

'_I came imagine what that must have been like.'_

'_He eventually became involved more in Seth's life as a friend of the family, but that is all I can and will say on the subject. I just thought you and Edward should know that you saved Seth's life not just for me and Leah, but for his biological father. You've given Seth and this man a chance to one day meet as Father and Son.'_

"I didn't hear her thoughts, so I don't know who it is either," I said to Jasper.

"I don't think it's important for us to know who his father is. I think it was more that our actions affect more people then we realize," Jasper replied.

Both Seth and Paul had been moved to private rooms a few days later, and the weekend was now upon us. Jasper and I had the weekend off and we were heading out with Riley, Emmett and Demetri to get in one last hunting trip in at Goat Rocks for bears before the winter months.

Carlisle was working this weekend, and would check in on Seth and Paul. The women had all decided that a shopping trip was in order. It was going to be a nice quiet weekend for Carlisle, and a bonding weekend for everyone else.


	12. Advice & Voyeurism

**A/N: ** There are two new Outtakes on TWCS: Jake's New Job, which takes place between Chapters 7 & 8 of this story. There is also An Angel & Espresso, which was originally going to be the first scene in chapter 12. The chapter 12 that will be coming soon is completely different then what was originally planned.

Note: The lemon that is part of this chapter can be viewed on TWCS; link is in my profile.

**Chapter 11: Advice & Voyeurism**

**PoV: Jasper**

Emmett, Riley, Demetri, Edward and I were all in my Range Rover heading to Goat Rocks for the weekend. Edward was driving, while I was in the passenger's seat. Emmett sat behind me and was in his usual jovial mood. Riley sat in the middle and the poor guy was being pestered non-stop by Emmett.

Demetri was seated behind Edward and his mood was much more subdued. Other then searching for the rogue vampire he had hidden himself away over the past few weeks since his encounter with Angela. I had not been able to talk to him about it with everything that had happened since that day.

"Penny for your thoughts," I said.

"My thoughts are worth more then a Penny," Emmett said.

"Your thoughts are barely worth a half penny, Emmett. Sadly they don't mint those anymore," Edward retorted.

"Fuck you," Emmett said with a grin.

"You wish, Emmett."

"Hey, no one fucks my husband but me!" I replied.

"Oh, it's going to be one of those weekends," Riley laughed.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Emmett asked.

"It means the weekend will be filled with crude sexual innuendoes and lots of Emmett bashing," I replied with a smirk.

"Fuck you, too," Emmett laughed.

"You wouldn't be able to handle me," I grinned.

"If I can handle Rosalie I can handle you," Emmett replied.

"Anyway, I wasn't talking to you. I was talk to Demetri," I said.

Demetri shrugged, "I was just thinking."

"Don't think so hard. You wouldn't want to hurt yourself," Emmett grinned.

Demetri cursed in Italian "Vaffanculo", which Emmett didn't understand.

"Hey, no fair cursing me when I can't understand you."

"He told you to _'fuck off',_" Edward translated.

"Seriously, Demetri, what is brothering you? You've been unusually quiet as of late," Riley said.

"If Emmet can promise to not be a jack ass I'll tell you all, otherwise I'll just sulk in private," Demetri replied.

"Fine, you all aren't any fun," Emmett complained.

Demetri hesitated a moment then began, "Well, as Jasper and Edward know I had an encounter with a human recently that left me unsettled."

"Do you mind elaborating on that?" Riley asked.

"Do you know the nurse who usually works the evening shift? Her name is Angela," Demetri replied.

"Alice mentioned her named last week. It was something about becoming friends with her. I didn't ask for details," Riley replied with a shrug.

"What kind of encounter did you have?" Emmett asked. Surprisingly there was no double mean to his question.

"She was walking into the hospital and tripped, but I caught her before she could fall," Demetri answered. "She was a dozen or so feet from me. I saw her about to trip and I just acted."

"Wait, so you weren't beside her when this happened?" I asked. I was concerned now. How much had Angela seen?

"No, but I don't think she noticed anything," Demetri stated with confidence.

"You actually may have been saved by the touch," I said.

"Saved by a touch?" Riley said, "Wait… are you saying what I think you are saying?"

Emmett huffed. He hated not knowing what we were talking about.

"When we touched I felt a shock. It wasn't like a static discharge. It was much more powerful. Every nerve in my body felt it," Demetri said.

"Now Alice's statement makes sense…. Wow…" Riley said. He was surprised and very curious.

Demetri nodded. "I can't stop thinking about her."

"I hate when you all do that know-it-all bullshit," Emmett grumbled, finally unable to keep from voicing his annoyance.

Edward sighed, "Dem was saying that he thinks Angela is his mate."

"Oh… OH! Wow, man that sucks," Emmett said finally catching on to the discussion.

"Thanks, Emmett." Demetri replied sourly.

"So what are you going to do?" Riley asked.

"If I knew that I wouldn't be depressed. I even talked to your wife, but she said she couldn't really see anything clear without me making a decision," Demetri said.

"The way I see it, you have two options. You can continue to sulk and ignore the connection you have with Angela, or you can take the plunge and see where fate takes you. I think we all know that there is only one person in this world that we can truly call our mate, and whom we will love with every fiber of our being. You need to decide if you want that love or if you want to spend forever alone," I said.

Demetri sighed, "One of the reasons I left the Volturi was to find my mate. I just never expected her or him to be human. I'm not prepared to deal with this type of situation."

"Are you saying that you are a thousand year old virgin?" Emmett asked.

Demetri sighed, but he wasn't very pleased with Emmett comment.

"Riley," I said and that was all Riley need to smack Emmett in the back of the head.

"No, Emmett," Demetri replied annoyed.

"Then what's the problem? You know the mechanics all you need to do is get her nakedc," Emmett explained.

Riley didn't need any prompting this time and smacked Emmett again. "Fuck! It's a damn good thing I'm a vampire or with all the smacking I'd have a brain injury," Emmett complained.

"Your brain injury isn't from getting smacked. I think your mother dropped you when you were a baby," Edward replied sarcastically.

"Dem, I'm really sorry I asked," I apologized. While Emmett may have thought it was funny I knew that this was really bothering Demetri.

"No, it's fine. I don't want to be alone forever, but I'm terrified that I'll injure her. Just holding her hand would require so much concentration that I don't know if I can do it," Demetri replied.

"It doesn't require as much concentration as you are assuming," Edward said. "It does require you to stay focused, but it requires no more concentration then turning a door knob."

"I've broken more door knobs then I care to count," Demetri replied dryly. _'Okay, bad example.'_

"I think you just need some practice and I know just how to help you build your confidence," I said.

Demetri gave me a hopefully, but skeptical expression. "How?"

"It would be best if I tell you privately. Emmett is likely to make some inappropriate remarks," I replied.

Emmett grinned.

"Injuring her is only one of the issues I am facing. If I can master the control necessary to be around her there is still the issue of how do I approach her? I don't think I can tell her about me, at least not yet. Courting her will be difficult," Demetri said.

"Well, first off no one says courting anymore. It's called dating," Emmett said in a matter of fact tone.

Demetri sighed, "I don't care what it is called. It will be difficult. It likely would be only a matter of time before she notices things."

"Telling her right off is out of the question. You will have to build her trust first, and then you will need to gradually introduce her to our world. It will not be easy, and you will need to be patient," Edward said.

"When you feel you have enough control to meet her properly you should consider asking her to go out for coffee with you. It would be a short _'date' _and allow you to get to know her some and test your control. You'll then need to move on to longer dates. That also means you may have to pretend to eat dinner with her," I said.

Demetri made a disgusted facial expression, "Human food is disgusting."

"Yes, but you'll do it if it means spending time with her." I countered, and Demetri didn't argue the point.

"Carlisle, Jasper or I can introduce you to her when you are ready to meet her," Edward said.

"When you do meet her, and start a relationship with her you will need to be honest. Lying to her will make things more difficult for you. You don't have to tell her the whole truth, but whatever you do, please don't lie," Riley said.

"Riley is correct. You'll need to be very careful with how you word your responses, but when the time is right you will be able to tell her the whole truth," I add.

"What if she hates that I'm a vampire," Demetri said.

"I doubt that will happen. She will also feel connected and drawn to you. I think if you are honest and show her your human side that she will be able to look past what you are. Also you haven't feed on humans in decades. She won't have reason to hate you," I answered.

"You'll also want to make sure you buy the right size condoms. It would be totally embarrassing to have the wrong size condoms when you two get freaky," Emmett said.

Demetri gave Emmett an expression of total disbelief. "Why the fuck would I need condoms?"

"Well you don't want to get her pregnant," Emmett said.

"Emmett, I'm starting to agree with Edward. Your mother seriously dropped you on your head… numerous times," Demetri replied. "I'm a vampire. It is not possible for me to get her pregnant."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," I said.

Demetri looked at me like I lost my mind. "Hear me out. It may be nothing, but you all know how some mythology about vampires is true. While in Mexico I had heard stories of blood sucking demons that preyed on pretty girls and impregnate them. Did you know that Kaure, one of the caretakers of Isle Esme believes in the myth?"

"You speak of the myth of the incubus," Demetri replied, and I nodded. "It is just a myth, Jasper. If it were anything more than a Myth then I am sure that Aro would have attempted to impregnate a human by now. No, I'm certain it is not possible."

"I disagree complete," Edward argued. "Carlisle and I did a lot of research into vampire DNA during the nineties. We learned a great deal about our kind, including that there is no venom in our semen. There are some minor difference between what we ejaculate and what human males ejaculate. The main difference is that our sperm seems to be move active and there is a lot more of it. There is also the increased number of chromosomes contained in each cell."

"So it would be possible," I replied.

"Carlisle believes so, but there really is no way to test the theory safely," Edward said.

"You are saying we could father children?" Riley said.

"Like I said, Carlisle believes so," Edward replied.

"Either way it doesn't matter. I have no intentions of having sexual relations with her while she is human. It wouldn't be safe. I've heard the stories from the Denali sisters of how many humans they accidently killed while having sex with them. I won't take that risk with Angela," Demetri replied.

"No sex? I would end up with a near permanent erection if I don't get off at least once a day," Emmett said.

"I'm rooming with Edward and Jasper, there is no way I'm going to be anywhere near Em," Riley replied quickly.

_'Been there, done that,' _I added mentally for Riley, and he gave me a sour expression.

"Not everyone thinks about sex all the time Emmett. The last time I had sexual relations with someone was over five years ago. I'm a thousand year old vampire who has learned how to control his needs," Demetri snapped.

I sent him a wave of calm emotions, which helped ease his mood. "Emmett, knock it off."

Emmett sighed, "You all need to loosen up and stop taking everything so seriously. Especially you," – he said while looking at Demetri, "don't you think you'll make her uncomfortable if you are stiff and always on edge. You've got to smile and be relaxed."

Demetri was about to reply, but Emmett continued to speak. "As for condoms, you should get them anyway. You may not plan on having sex with her, but she may want to have sex with you; and I am willing to bet that you will have a hard time saying no to her."

"Fuck! I can't believe I'm saying this, but Emmett makes a valid point," Edward said.

"Please don't stroke his ego,"

"Stroking is good," Emmett said with a grin.

I sighed. "See what you've done!"

Thankfully, we arrived at the park a short time later with little more said on the subject of Demetri's love life.

_'Take Emmett and Riley with you. I want to speak with Demetri privately,' _I projected to Edward. He nodded with his eyes, so as to not give us away.

After Edward had left with Riley and Emmett I turned to Demetri. "Come on I know a good place to find us a few mountain lions."

Demetri was quiet the whole time we hunted. It was times like these that I kind of wished that I had Edward's gift. We had started walking back at human pace when he finally decided to open up.

"What if I am not capable of being around her?" Demetri asked.

"You won't know unless you try, but I think you are concern about that for no reason. You've already been around her, and as far as I remember you didn't bite her," I replied.

"I'm making this out to be a bigger issue then it needs to be, aren't I?"

"Yes and no. Your concerns are valid for the most part, but you are over thinking everything."

"What do you suggest I do?" Demetri asked.

"Ask her out for coffee, and get to know her. You want to make sure that she knows you are interested in her. Then let the relationship develop slowly over a few months."

"I think I can do that," Demetri finally said after a moment of thought.

"You need to make sure you are taking your time with this relationship. We vampires tend to jump feet first into relationships when we find our mate, but you can't do that here. I'm afraid if you come on too strong you will scare her," I added.

"How do I know if I'm coming on too strong?" Demetri asked.

"Pay attention to her body language it will tell you if you are making her uncomfortable. When you are you need to back off. It might be easier to let her lead. Be honest with her and tell her you have very little experience with dating. Women like a man who is will to show a bit of vulnerability," I explained.

"When we get back I'd like it if you or Edward would introduce us. Best to do it before I change my mind," Demetri chuckled.

"Angela will be going on her days off when we get back. She's been covering Sue's day shifts, which works out great for us. I'll introduce you when we get back and you get offer to take her out for a cup of coffee when her shift ends," I said.

Demetri smiled, "I hope it goes well. I've been waiting for this for while," but then sighed. "I don't want to be alone anymore. These last few decades have been the best of my entire vampire life. I've managed to reach within me and find my humanity, and now I want to share that and my life with my mate."

"The urge to speed up the pace of your relationship with Angela will be strong. You'll need to temper those urges. Trust me when I say that Edward and I didn't take things slow. The urge to be everywhere he was all the time was almost overwhelming," I said.

"I've had the urge to tracker her down more times than I care to admit. I just need to know she is safe, but I've managed to keep myself from doing it."

"There is nothing wrong with making sure she is safe," I replied and then added, "Just don't turn into a creepy vampire stalker." I chuckled.

"I'll keep that in mind," Demetri laughed.

I could sense that Demetri felt better after the discussion. He actually had a smile on his face that wasn't forced, but I could also feel some anxiety. I was willing to bet that he was in a hurry to get back and begin this new journey.

After our hunt we all met back up before heading over to our motel to check in. Riley did room with Edward and me, while Demetri ended up room with Emmett.

Edward and I were on our bed with Edward lay curled up against my side with his head resting on my chest. Both of us lay there with our eyes closed while listening to music from Edward's ipod. Riley was lying on his side facing us.

"Have you guys ever watched porn?" Riley asked. I opened my eyes and then slowly turned my head toward Riley.

"What?" I said, totally confused as to why he was asking this question.

"Have you guys ever watched porn?" Riley said.

"I heard you the first time, but what the fuck?" I said.

Edward chuckled, "Alice made you watch gay porn with her?"

"Not just gay porn. We watched straight and bi-sexual porn too," Riley replied.

"No. We have never found the need to watch it, at least not together. Our sex life is very fulfilling for me," I said.

"I've watched some porn, but it's never turned me on," Edward added.

"I wouldn't say I got turned on by it. I like to look at the naked bodies, but it just seemed… fake…?" Riley said, "Alice seemed disappointed by it."

"Alice was disappointed by it? Your voyeur wife didn't enjoy watching porn?" Disbelief colored my tone.

"She said and I quote, 'It's so much hotter watching Jasper and Edward fuck,'" Riley replied.

"I still think your wife watching us have sex is creepy. I just can't understand why she likes it so much," I said.

"I don't know, but I don't mind that she watches. It just means that she gets horny and I get laid more often," Riley grinned. "She gets really turned on when she gets a vision of you two having sex…"

"Riley, I love you but stop with the mental images of Alice naked," Edward said in a strained voice.

"Sorry," Riley said. I could feel his embarrassment.

"I'm sure she'd get really turned on if she had a vision of the three of us having sex," I grinned. Edward groaned and Riley's embarrassment spiked.

"She's talked about that a few times," Riley chuckled nervously.

I chuckled and my phone buzzed. "I bet this is the she-devil now."

_'Yup, I was right,'_ I thought as I looked at the text message. _'Your wish is granted.'_

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" I said confused, and Edward groaned again.

"What?" I said looking from Edward to Riley who was expressing more nervousness.

"Alice keeps going on about how turned on she would be if we… well you know," Riley said.

"You mean it would turn her on to get a vision of the three of us having sex?" I said.

Riley nodded, "We reached a compromise, but only of the two of you are okay with it." Riley said.

I looked down at Edward and he sighed, "I don't know Riley. I know that I've said that want to do the twin thing, but not if it makes Edward uncomfortable."

"I wouldn't exactly participate," Riley said.

"I don't understand," I replied.

"He'd watch you and I have sex, but he'd jerk off while watching," Edward explained. He didn't seem as put off by this idea.

"You'd be okay with that?" I asked Edward.

Edward shrugged, "Alice already watches us, so it wouldn't be that much different."

I turned to Riley, "Can I ask why you want to watch."

Riley gave off a wave of nervous emotions, "I'm curious to see if what Alice says is true. I think she knew I'd get curious and that's why she got me to watch porn."

"It's up to you," I said to Edward.

"I'm okay with it, but I think we should set some ground rules," Edward replied.

I nodded, "Riley and me both agree that neither of us is going to touch the other. It would be way too weird and wrong for either of us to do something with the other. We're biological brothers after all."

"It would be weird for me to watch that too," I replied.

"I'm okay with Riley touching you or you touching him, but he thinks he'll just keep his distance and watch. But I would prefer if there was no penetration between the two of you," Edward said.

I nodded again, "That is all reasonable, anything else?"

"No, I'm okay with anything else that might happen," Edward said.

"Riley, anything to add," I asked.

"No, Edward covered it all." With that I rolled Edward onto his back and began to passionately kiss him. I moved my hands down to his waist and pulled his shirt out of his pants; he did the same to me.

(...) **A/N: Due to FFn's Ratings policy this section of the story can be read at TWCS. A link is available in my Author's Profile.** (...)

"Was that okay?" I asked Edward. He knew I was asking if it was okay that I had sucked off Riley.

Edward nodded, "Yeah it was okay. It was kind of hot to watch you sucking him off."

I kissed Edward again, _'Thank you.'_

'_You're welcome,'_ Edward projected to me as we kissed.

I lay back onto the bed and sighed happily. "You need a shower," Edward chuckled.

I looked down at myself, my chest and stomach were covered in cum. "Fuck, I didn't think I shot that much."

"Well it has been a while," Edward said as he slowly pulled out of me. "I'll start the shower."

Edward disappeared into the bathroom and I heard him start the shower. I turned to Riley who had gone back over to his bed.

"Riley," I said.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay with everything that happened?"

"Yeah, it was pretty hot to watch you two," Riley said. "It was a huge turn on for me, and I can see why Alice likes to watch the two of you. Thanks for let me join you."

"You're welcome," I replied. "This is probably a one time thing, but hell it was a lot of fun."

"Alice is going to be so jealous," Edward laughed as he came back into the room.

"Why?" I said.

"Because Riley got to see as in action in person," Edward explained.

"She'll just have to settle for her visions," I laughed and then headed into the bathroom. I slipped into the shower.

"Are we good?" I heard Riley ask Edward.

"Yeah, were good," Edward said. "It was different, but in a good way."

Edward turned to join me, "Oh, Riley."

"Yeah?"

"Tell Alice she owes me," Edward laughed.

**A\N**: There will be a six month gap between Chapter 11 & Chapter 12. There will however be a couple of outtakes that bridge the gap. Look for those appearing on TWCS soon...


	13. The Succubus & the Frenchman

**Chapter 12: The Succubus & the Frenchman**

**POV: Jasper**

Six Months Later…

I sat on the window seating area in the library, which over looked the backyard. I was ready a new novel I had picked up a few days ago called _The Host_. The sound of a car approaching the house pulled my attention from the book. I looked out the window and could see a silver colored Audi come to a stop in front of our unattached garage. I immediately recognized the car as belonging to Kate.

I was surprised to say the least to see Kate's car in our driveway. I headed down to greet her. I reached the French doors leading to the backyard as Kate, Carmen and Eleazar came up the steps of the porch.

"Katrina!" I said with a warm smile after opening the door. Kate disliked it when we called her by her full name, but I got away with it because she loved how it sounded in my southern accent.

"Jasper!" Kate replied with a warm smile and hug.

"This is a wonderful surprise. We didn't expect you," I said.

"Eleazar and Carmen wanted to visit Riley before returning to Denali. I offered to pick them up at the airport in Seattle so they could surprise him," Kate replied.

"Seattle is a long drive from Denali just to help with a surprise," I responded. I was certain there was more to this little offer then surprising Riley.

"She's only telling half the story. Kate was very insistent that she would drive us," Carmen said as she gave me a hug and greeted me with a kiss on each cheek. "Hello Jasper."

"Hello Carmen," I greeted, "It's wonderful to see you again."

"I think Kate wanted a break from Irina," Eleazar added.

"More like her _friend,_" Kate said, but the word friend was said with disgust.

"Sounds like trouble in paradise," I laughed.

"More like blind stupidity, if you ask me," Kate said. I was very curious about what had Kate so upset. However, before I could voice my curiosity Carmen decide to change the subject.

"You have a lovely home."

"Esme did most of the decorating, but Edward and I had a lot of input into the design," I said. I made a mental note to see what was troubling Kate. Her emotions on the subject of Irina's friend were raw and intense.

Fenris came in the room followed closely by Edward. "I thought I heard voices."

"Hello Edward!" Kate greeted him with a hug and kiss. She then slid her left hand down his back and gave his ass a gentle squeeze.

"Hey! Hands off my man," I teased.

"I heartily doubt I could steal him away from you Jasper," Kate teased me back.

"What do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Edward asked.

"Has his ability to read minds vanished?" Kate asked teasingly.

"No, but when he gets involved in his music he tends to block everything else around him out," I explained.

"Who is this little guy?" Eleazar asked as he curiously watched Fenris.

"This is my best friend Fenris, and unlike Edward he doesn't talk back," I grinned.

Edward narrowed his eyes at me, "I'll remember that."

"I'm only teasing, love."

"So what brings you down here all the way from Denali, not that we don't appreciate your company," Edward asked.

"I need a break from Irina and her _friend_," Kate said, again with the disgust on the word friend.

"You know I almost think you don't like this _friend_," I said putting emphasis on the word.

"You are most observant, Jasper. Truly if everyone had your ability the world would be a brighter place," Kate teased.

"It's a gift," I laughed.

"When did you become so easy going and comedic?" Kate asked.

I shrugged, "I'm just in a good mood. I think its Carmen's fault. She's bustling with happy emotions."

"Don't let him fool you. Jasper has become much easier going and more confident in the last few years. Completing his medical degree was a huge confidence boost for him, and for me too," Edward said.

"Well I must say it suits you well. I so like the happy easy going Jasper over the brooding and depressed version," Kate smiled.

"We're going to head up to the main house, and visit with Riley. We'll leave you all to get caught up," Eleazar said.

"We'll come up to the main house a little later," I replied.

Kate waited until Eleazar and Carmen left before she spoke more on the subject of Irina's friend.

"I didn't want to say too much in front of Eleazar and Carmen. I don't want to influence their impression of Laurent, but I can't stand him. I don't know what it is about him, but I don't trust him," Kate said.

"Lets have a seat and we can talk more about it, if it'll help," I offered as I walked over to the sofa. Kate and Edward followed and sat down with me.

"Why don't you trust him?" Edward asked.

"He showed up at the house about a year ago. At the time he was feeding traditionally and Tanya made it clear he was not to feed in the area. He agreed, and started asking a lot of questions about our diet. We've had guest before who've asked about it, but few care very much about it after we tell them the basics," Kate said.

"I take it Laurent was more curious then previous guests?" I asked.

"I wouldn't say curious. I got the sense that he already knew about it, but not all the specifics. He asked a lot of questions about eye color and about how long it took to change to gold. He also asked what would happen to our eye color if we feed on a human," Kate said.

"Strange questions to ask, but it could just be chalked up to curiosity," Edward reasoned.

"Perhaps you are correct, but there were other things that just didn't sit well with me, and so I try to avoid him. Irina was more forth coming with answers and he took to her quickly. I didn't much care for how she so freely gave up information about us to a complete stranger," Kate said.

"I take it he's not so much of a stranger now, if he showed up a year ago," I said.

"He comes and goes often. He'll spend a couple of weeks with us, and then go off for a while. He says he isn't comfortable with staying in one place all the time. A few months after his first visit he and Irina started a relationship, but Irina was adamant that he switch to our diet. He at first refused, but came back a few weeks later and agreed," Kate said.

"Perhaps his interest in Irina is strong enough to convert him," I suggested.

Kate laughed, "No, but don't tell that to Irina. I've seen his eyes when he returns. I've lived for over a thousand years and I know when someone is hiding something. There has been numerous times when he's returned with red specks in his eyes. Tanya and Irina dismiss it, but I know he's cheating."

"That's not good. If he's cheating he'll never be able to make the switch fully," Edward said with a sigh.

"If that was all that bothered me about him then I'd deal with it, but there is more. I feel like he's just using Irina, but I don't know why," Kate sighed.

"You love your sister, Kate. It is only natural that you would be concerned, but why do you think he is using Irina?" Edward asked.

"It wasn't until he returned that I started getting suspicious of him. He started asking questions about all of you. Irina must have told him there were others who shared the same diet as we do," Kate began.

"What kind of questions?" I asked. Kate now had my full attention even more then before.

"At first it was innocent questions like where you all lived, and if we had converted you; simple things like that. I started to get really concerned when he started asking more specific questions. He knew that Eleazar and I were gifted," Kate continued.

I started to get angry, "I don't like the sound of where this is going."

"I didn't think you would. I cautioned Irina about telling him anything about all of you, but she wouldn't listen. She claimed he was now part of our coven so he deserved to know. I told her that we never agreed to allow him to join us," Kate added.

"What did she tell him?" I asked.

"Everything," Kate sighed, "She is so blinded by him that she can't see how much trouble this could cause all of you. She told him about all of your gifts, and how they work. Well all of them, but Demetri's gift. She didn't know anything about his gift or that he is gifted."

"What the hell is she thinking?"

"She's not thinking, that's the only explanation I have for it," Kate said.

"He knows about Alice's gift?" Edward asked.

"Yes everything about it, and about yours. Irina doesn't know much about Jasper's gift so that wasn't discussed much, but he did talk a lot about Alice's gift," Kate answered.

Knowing about our gifts was a concern mainly because we didn't want Aro to ever find out about them, but there were other reasons to keep them a secret. Now Irina had gone and opened her mouth to some random nomad that we didn't know, and told him everything…

"When you say everything, what exactly do you mean by that?" I asked. Something clicked in my mind.

"I mean everything, your gifts, your friends, where you live, where you work. You name it she told him," Kate responded.

"What about the treaty with the Quileute tribe?" I asked.

"Yes," Kate answered.

"Holy Fuck!" _Laurent is the nomad who's been here._

"What's wrong?" Kate asked looking alarmed.

"Are you sure, Jazz?" Edward asked, but I could tell he had reached the same conclusion by his emotions.

"Only one way to be sure," I said, "Can you recall Laurent's scent?"

"Damn it!" Edward growled, in response to Kate's memories.

"What is going on?" Kate asked. She was worried and confused.

"There has been a nomad terrorizing the Quileute tribe. The one and only time we saw him was six months ago, but he's been in the area repeatedly for nearly six months prior," I explained.

"You are sure it is Laurent?"

"Now that I've seen the memory of his scent, yes. It is very distinctive, but there is more," Edward answered.

"Nine years ago, Laurent killed the wife of a Quileute Tribal Elder. Not just any Tribal Elder, but the descendant of Ephraim Black. He was the alpha of the wolf pack, and now his great grandson is the new alpha," I said.

"I thought you all said the wolf pack was gone?"

"We thought since there were no wolves the few times we visited the area that there were none, but it turns out that a prolonged or repeated visits by vampires triggers the transformation," Edward explained.

"When Laurent was last in the area he tried to attack Jacob's father in broad daylight. Jacob is the alpha of the wolf pack. He has much of Ephraim's temperament and is quite wise for someone so young," I added.

"I know that son of a bitch was nothing but trouble," Kate growled.

"Wait, how come Demetri never tracked him down?" Kate questioned as an after thought.

"He couldn't get a good read on him. Demetri and Emmett spent weeks trying to track him down by scent, but that didn't get them very far," Edward answered.

Demetri and Alice entered through the rear door just as I asked Kate if Laurent was still in Denali. "Is he still in Denali?"

"No," Demetri answered, which surprised me.

"I thought you couldn't track him?" Edward asked.

"That has not changed, but I can track Tanya and Irina. I can also tell if there is another person with them. They are alone at the moment," Demetri answered.

"What do you plan to do?" Kate asked.

"I want to know why he's so curious about us and what the fuck he is doing," I growled.

I was beyond pissed. Irina had no right in tell anyone about us or the treaty with the Quileute.

"Tell me about this Laurent," Demetri said.

"I don't know much about him. I try to keep my distance. I do know that he's about three hundred years old and he has a French accent," Kate responded.

"Do you know of his past affiliations?" Demetri asked.

"He claimed to have traveled for a time with Vladimir and Stefan, but I found that hard to believe. You know how those two don't trust anyone," Kate replied.

"I wonder if it is he same person who approached Aro about joining the guard. I was not in Volterra at the time. Unsurprisingly I was dealing with werewolves," Demetri said with annoyance. He still held a grudge against Caius for all those werewolf hunts.

Aro had him followed for a number of years afterward with the hope that he would lead us to Vladimir and Stefan. He never did and Aro abandoned the pursuit," Demetri added.

I was just about to speak when my phone rang. "Excuse me."

I stood and pulled the phone from my pocket and walked toward the kitchen to while looking at the caller id. I didn't recognize the number, but it was local.

I answered the phone with, "Hello?"

"Jasper?" the female voice on the other end of the call said in a frantic voice. The voice was familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"This is Jasper," I replied.

"This is Emily Young," – Emily was Sam's imprint and newly married wife, - "There's been an attack on the village."

Everyone stopped talking and was suddenly listening to my phone conversation. "Emily, stay calm and tell me exactly what is happening," I responded.

Emily took a deep breath, "Sam and I saw Seth running to Jake's house yelling for him. Both Paul and Jacob were outside. I could see a person chasing Seth. Sam yelled at me to stay in the house and to call you. At the same time I saw Jacob phase and land behind Seth. Paul pushed Seth and Rachel into Jake's house and he went to help Jacob."

"Did you see what was chasing Seth?" I really didn't need to ask, but I wanted to know if it was Laurent.

I heard a loud howl in the background before Emily answered, "I think whoever it was that was chasing him had fiery red hair."

As soon as Emily said this I felt a pop in Demetri's emotions. I turned to look at him and his expression was of complete shock. It was as if he'd been taken completely by surprise. Demetri still had the presence of mind to speak one word, "Victoria."

"Alice, get Riley and Emmett, now!" I ordered. Alice was gone before I finished the sentence.

I heard another howl in the background, but this time it was louder. "I can hear the pack running by the house. I think they are heading for the forest," Emily said.

"We're on our way," I said and ended the call.

**A/N: **So I know of one person who guessed correctly, but who else suspected it was Laurent?

Next chapter is already off to be beta'd and should be posted in about two weeks.


	14. Breach

**A\N: **This chapter has split POVs. The first part is told in Seth's POV, then we switch to Edward's POV. I'll warn you now that there is Character Death in this chapter. I'm not going to say who dies, but I can tell you that neither Jasper or Edward die; that would kinda screw up my story if they died at this point.

I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts about this chapter.

**Chapter 13: Breach**

**POV: Seth**

It's been about six months since the accident at the beach. Everyone told me how lucky I had been. Mom had told me how if it hadn't been for Doctor Cullen and Doctor Hale I wouldn't be here today. She was very happy and thankful that they saved my life.

Mom had finally let me visit their house to check out their sports cars. Jake had taken me over and we had a great time. Jasper took me for a ride in his Jaguar and Edward took me for a ride on his bike. We had spent the morning there, and I even got to play with Jasper's dog Fenris.

Jake had driven us back to La Push. I walked back home from his house. Paul was over visiting Rachel, which seemed to really annoy Jake. Paul was an okay guy, and Rachel seemed to like him. I walked up the steps of the porch and entered the house, "Hey Mom, I'm home."

"Seth, RUN!" Mom yelled.

I turned my head toward her voice and there was a man standing behind mom. He was holding her against him. I was frozen in place for just a moment. I noticed he was very pale, and had long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, but what really scared me were his eyes; they were dark crimson.

Tears were running down mom's face, but she had a determined expression and again she told me to run. The man who had been running his nose up and down along her neck looked at me and I felt a shiver of fear run through me.

Leah walked into the house at that moment, her head instantly snapped to the man holding mom. Several things happened at once. Leah yelled at me to run to Jake's and another man appeared out of thin air and was standing in the door way. He was blocking the only exit. Leah threw herself at him and knocked him to the ground and yelled again for me to run to Jake.

My instincts agreed and I run out the door toward Jakes house. Jake didn't live far from my house. He was still outside with Paul, so I started yelling his name.

"Jake!"

He turned to see me running after him, and that's when I heard movement behind me. I kept running and didn't look behind me. Jake's eyes went wide and then he was running toward me.

"Get down!" Jake yelled and then he burst into a huge Russet wolf. I fell to the ground and scrapped my hands as the wolf sail over my head.

Paul grabbed hold of my arm and he lifted me up as if I weight nothing and pulled me toward Jake's house. He pushed Rachel and I into the house and told us to stay there. He turned around. The next thing I saw as a huge dark gray wolf where Paul had been standing.

Rachel pulled further into the house and Billy came rolling into the room. "What's going on?"

I heard a very loud howl coming from my house. Billy's head snapped toward the door. "Something was after Seth. Jake and Paul took off after it," Rachel said.

Billy looked at me. "There was this man, he had Mom… and… she said to run… and then Leah attacked this other man… and…"

Another howl scared the crap out of me and then there was a thundering roar of what sounded like a stampede rush by the house.

~ * ~ POV CHANGE: EDWARD ~ * ~

Jasper told Kate to stay behind, while Demetri and I followed after Jasper. We meet up with Alice, Emmett and Riley as they came running out of the main house. Demetri caught up with Jasper and directed us toward James and Victoria.

"Riley I need you to project to Jake that we are coming to help as soon as you are in range. Let him know that Emily called us," Jasper ordered.

Jasper was in full _major_ mode. He was determined to end James and Victoria. We still didn't know what had happened on the reservation. We only knew that Victoria at been chasing after Seth, but he had somehow managed to get to Jake before she caught up with him.

I knew that Jasper was worried, from the sound of his thoughts he was concerned Seth may have been hurt. I too was very worried, but Emily didn't say he had been hurt. I just hope that he was okay. I had a feeling that Sue would never be the same if she lost Seth. When the thought of Sue entered my mind it increased my concern. I hoped that she was safe.

We very quickly crossed State Road 110 and continued northwest. Demetri was leading us more and more northward, instead of west toward La Push. A little over five minutes had passed since we left our home. We had just reached Wentworth Lake when I picked up on Jake's thought.

_'Run faster, they are getting away!'_ Jake projected to the pack. There was a double timbre to his voice. I could tell from the thoughts of the other wolves that they were pushing themselves harder.

_'Sam are you sure Emily called them?'_ Jared asked.

_'I told her to call. I don't know what happened after I phased,' _Sam projected.

_'We're along side Wentworth Lake,' _Riley projected to Jake.

_'I just heard Riley, they are close,'_ Jake projected.

_'They need to slow down those fucking leeches or we'll never catch them,'_ Paul growled.

We emerged into a clearing just north of the lake. I could tell from looking through Jake's eyes that James, Victoria and another vampire were about to emerge from the tree line to our left.

"On our left," I yelled to Jasper and Demetri. Less than a second later James and Victoria burst into the clearing. They saw Jasper and hesitated for just a second before changing course for the north end of the clearing.

Jasper pushed himself harder. I could feel the rage in his thoughts as he charged after James. When he got within a couple dozen yards of James, he let out a ferocious growl and leapt off the ground and right at James.

Victoria changed course to defend James. I pushed myself to the limits of my running abilities and caught up with Jasper mid-leap. Victoria saw me heading for her and immediately changed course back the way she came.

Jasper tackled James to the ground and rolled into a crouch. His eyes were pitch black and filled with the rage that his thoughts were emitting. He looked both glorious and terrifying. I had seen and fought beside Jasper on several occasions, but never in those past battles had he looked this terrifying, not even when he fought Maria. In a way, it scared me to see how angry he was.

Not far behind Jasper I could see Laurent had slowed. The wolves had come to a stop except for Jacob who had just leapt off the ground heading right for Laurent. Laurent turned and threw his left arm out and caught Jacob mid-chest. He was thrown backward a couple of yards but appeared uninjured.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Demetri and Emmett take off after Victoria who disappeared into the tree to the north. Alice and Riley came to a stop behind me and we held our position. Neither James nor Laurent would get by us.

Alice was searching the future, trying to see what was going to happen. She was determined to keep all of us from getting hurt.

Jake was back on his feet and charged after Laurent alone. The rest of the pack formed a semi-circle opposite of Alice, Riley and I. It seemed they were only there to prevent Laurent or James from escaping. This was contrary to what I knew about how the pack worked. They fought as a group, just like true wolves.

I could hear from their thoughts that they wanted to attack Laurent, but it seemed they were unable to. I the impression they had been order against their will to stay out of the fight. Jacob had issue some command prevent the others from attacking. His thoughts confirmed my suspicious. He knew that Laurent was the rouge and he intended to take him out on his own.

I turned my attention back to Jasper in time to see him throw James in our direction. James landed inches from my feet and I gave him a hard kick in the ribs, which resulted in a very satisfying crack. The kick had also sent him fly a dozen feet. He rolled on to his feet and charged after Jasper.

James staggered for a moment, but managed to partially recover from some unknown force that had acted upon him. Searching though my memories of everyone's immediate thoughts, I found that Jasper had slammed a wave of fear into James and Laurent.

Laurent hadn't recovered and Jacob took the advantage of the opening. He bit hard into Laurent's right arm, but came away with nothing. Laurent had managed to recover and drove his left fist repeatedly into Jacob's left side until he let go of his arm.

Jazz was fairing far better with James. I turned back to see that Jasper had ripped off James' left hand above the wrist. I also noticed that Jazz wasn't making the advances against James. He was watching, forcing James to make the attacks. I watched in Jasper's mind as he observed all of James' movements. It was amazing to watch how tenths of a second before James would follow through with an attack that Jasper would have a counterattack or unbreakable defensive move ready to perfectly counter James.

Jacob also seemed to be doing better against Laurent. He had managed to remove fingers from Laurent's left hand and shredded his shirt. Jacob was spitting the fingers out onto the ground when I gave this fight more attention. Jacob charged after Laurent again, but I saw in Laurent's mind what he planned.

"NO! Jake!" I yelled, but it was too late he was already mid-air. Laurent rolled out of the way and then he flipped around and his right hand opened hand connected with the lower part of Jacob's left front leg. I heard the sicken sound of the bone breaking.

Jacob let out a loud yelp, and I watched as his body crashed to the ground a dozen feet from Laurent. He immediately got back on his feet, but held his left front leg up and near his body. The pack moved forward protecting Jake as he used his mouth to set the leg properly. His mind was filled with the pain of the break, but he worked hard to focus.

Laurent tried to use the opportunity to escape, but I wasn't going to let him get away. I ran from my spot and materialized in front of him. He was shocked to see me there and did not have the time to react. My right foot connected with his chest and he flew backwards coming to land inches from Jacob.

Jacob had set his broke leg and immediately bit into Laurent's right arm. This time he didn't let go until he had returned the favor. He had severed the arm just above the elbow.

James let out a loud scream and I turned to see Jasper rip off the rest of his left arm. James managed to get to his feet and started to run, but neither Riley nor Jazz was going to let James get away.

Riley knew of what James had done to Alice and he was determined to see James die for his actions. I knew that he wanted to trade places with Jasper. He had wanted to make James pay for his crimes.

Riley was nearly as fast a runner as I was and before James got more than a dozen feet he had hold of James' right arm. Riley threw James backward and right into Jasper. Riley had projected to Jasper what he was going to do and Jazz was ready. He easily caught James and forced him to the ground.

Jasper didn't say anything he just pulled James' head back by his hair and put an end to him. Jazz stepped back and I could see he was trying to calm himself down. Riley headed over to Jasper and together they finished taking James apart.

Jazz pulled out a lighter. He lit it and then threw it onto James' remains. I turned my attention back to Jacob and Laurent's fight.

I heard another sickening crack when Laurent's left foot connected with Jacob's side. Jacob's mind filled with the pain in his chest, and I was certain he had several broke ribs. He didn't let the pain stop him. He was determined to put an end to Laurent. He still wouldn't let the pack help him, which was really starting to piss them off.

I could tell that the bone in Jacob's front leg wasn't fully healed but it seemed to have healed enough for Jacob to put some weight on it. Laurent tried to escape again, but Jacob fought through the pain and attacked Laurent. He leapt at Laurent's back with his jaw open and aiming for his neck. He found his target and his jaw closed around Laurent.

His lifeless body fell to the ground and Jacob landed on his injured leg. He let out a loud howl as his body crashed to the ground. The howling didn't stop as Jacob lay on the ground. I could tell he was in a lot of pain and had broken the bone again. I was also certain the impact had caused other injuries.

The wolves immediately took off and surrounded Jacob. I ran over to them, but they wouldn't let me near Jacob.

"Sam let me through, I can help him," I said. They wouldn't move.

Jasper was suddenly at my side and forced calm out across the area. "Move!"

This time Sam didn't resist when Jazz told him to move. Jasper immediately moved into help Jacob. The pack moved away, but not very far.

"Jake, you need to phase back I can't treat you like this," Jasper said.

_'I can't…. Fuck…. Hurts… too… much,' _Jacob managed to get out with his thoughts.

"He's in too much pain, he can't phase back," I relayed.

"Here," Alice said as she pushed a backpack toward me. I could tell from her thoughts that the bag was filled with medical supplies.

I got the back opened and dug around until I found a vial of morphine and a syringe. "Here," I said to Jasper while handing him the items.

Jazz quickly popped off the protective cap on the vial. He got the syringe filled with the pain killer. He moved around so he could inject Jacob in his hindquarter.

After injecting the medication I could hear Jasper concentrating on pushing calm emotions into Jacob. It was a tense several minutes but finally Jacob's body shutter and he phased back into human form.

"FUCK!" Jacob yelled. He continued to cuss loudly.

Jasper wasted no time rolling Jacob onto his back and quickly assessing the injuries. I joined him. "Radius has an oblique break about five inches from the elbow. I'm going to need to immobilize it."

"Riley," I called out.

"He's dealing with burning the remains," Alice said. Before I could tell her what I needed Sam phased.

"What do you need?" Sam asked.

"I need to put his arm in a splint. Find me four straight branches about six inches long, and no bigger than one inch in diameter," I said.

Sam nodded and ran toward the wooded area nearby.

"He's got several ribs that are fractured. Is there any medical tape in that bag?" Jasper asked.

"Here," Alice said handing over a roll of white medical tape. Jasper set about taping Jacob's chest.

Sam was back a minute later with the four branches I needed to create the splint. I set Jacob's arm and quickly placed the branches long his arm to keep it immobilized until we could get better supplies to treat it. I used a roll of gauze bandage to secure the branches to his arm.

"FUCK! Jacob yelled again. I could tell from searching his thoughts that he was still in a lot of pain.

"How much morphine did you give him?" I asked Jasper.

"The whole vial," Jazz replied.

I reached into the backpack and grabbed another vial and syringe. "What are you doing?" Jasper asked.

"He's still in pain, and I barely smell the morphine in his system. He's burning it off too quickly," I replied.

Jasper hesitated for a moment. I knew what he was thinking without having to probe his mind. He was worried we were going to overdose Jacob by giving him more morphine. Jasper finally nodded, and I gave Jacob another dose of the morphine.

Jazz worked on cleaning up a large cut on Jacob's right thigh. I check the rest of Jake's body over. He had a few other minor cuts and lots of bruises, but thankfully no other major injuries.

"Are you hurt anywhere else, Jake?" I asked.

"No," Jacob replied more calmly as the morphine took effect. "I think I got enough injuries."

"If you hadn't wanted to play hero and let us help you wouldn't have gotten hurt!" Sam said in a very annoyed and angry voice.

Jacob turned his head toward Sam and gave him a hard expression. "That blood sucking parasite killed my mother. I was going to make be the one to kill him."

"Jacob, you need to stay calm. You'll aggravate your injuries if you get upset," Jasper said. I could sense that he was pumping more calm emotions into Jacob.

Jacob closed his eyes and sighed. Sam didn't say anything else, but I knew he was angry with Jacob for being foolish. I found it hard to disagree with him. Jacob should have let the pack help.

Jazz moved to Jacob's other side and picked him. Jasper had found that one of Jacob's ankles had been sprained, which would making walking hard. He also couldn't phase because of the other injuries. "Alice, tell Carlisle we need an arm splint or plaster. More morphine and it wouldn't hurt to get some antibiotic cream for that cut."

Demetri and Emmett emerged from the wooded area and they were pissed. I could tell from their thoughts that Victoria had given them the slip.

"Where's the red headed bitch," Jasper called out to them.

"She gave us the slip. It was like she knew what we were going to do before we did it. Every time we tried to cut her off she changed course. No matter what we did we couldn't get to her," Demetri said angrily.

"Where is she now?" I asked.

"Half way to Seattle," Demetri replied. "You all seemed to have fared better than we did."

I nodded, Riley was still watching over the bonfire.

"Riley and I will head back and inform Carlisle of what you need. Dem and Em can stay and make sure that there isn't anything left but ashes," Alice said. She then suddenly slipped into a vision.

_Jasper and I entered a home in what appeared to be La Push with Sam and Paul that had a badly damaged front door. We were in what appeared to be the kitchen. When we got further into the house my eyes caught sight of a body laying on the ground. It took only a moment for my mind to recognize who it was. Sue Clearwater._

_Jasper rushed into the room and over to Sue. I then heard a moan, but it didn't come from Sue. Behind were Sue was lying I saw another body, it was Leah. She was still alive._

The vision ended. Jasper was looking at me and he could tell by my emotions that whatever Alice had seen wasn't good.

"We need to get to La Push. Alice's vision… Leah's still alive, but maybe not for much longer," I said. I didn't say anything about Sue. I was certain from the vision that she was dead, but Leah might make it.

Sam phased and the wolves began running back for La Push. "What are you waiting for?" Jacob said.

Jasper was still carrying Jacob, he turned to follow after the wolves. I ran alongside him as he tried to run quickly, but also not jostle Jacob too much.

It took us five minutes to get to La Push. Jasper rushed to Jacob's house first. I called out to Sam to let him know we'd be right there. He was urging us to hurry with his thoughts. I knew he was very concerned about Leah.

Jazz rushed into Jacob's house and carried him over to the sofa.

"Jake!" Billy said as he saw Jasper carrying him.

"I'm fine, Dad," Jacob said.

"You don't look fine," Billy said looking at Jasper and I.

"He has a few broken bones and a cut on his thigh. He'll be fine. We've treated the injuries temporarily, but Carlisle will be over with better medical supplies to get him all patched up," I responded.

Billy breathed a sigh of relief. I saw that Seth was standing behind Billy. He appeared uninjured but scared.

"We need to get to the Clearwater house," I said to Jasper. He nodded.

"What's going on?" Billy asked.

I looked up at Seth, and then at Billy. "We don't know. Alice had a vision…"

Billy nodded and Jazz and I left heading for the Clearwater house.

Sam and Paul were in human form and wearing shorts when we got there. Everything played out exactly as in Alice's vision. Sam rushed over to Leah the moment we found her.

I heard Jazz drop to his knees and a sob when he found that Sue was dead. I desperately wanted to go to him, but I had to attend to Leah.

"Where's Seth?" Leah asked in a weak voice. Her thoughts projected the pain coursing through her.

"He's safe Lee," Sam assured her. "You did good, he's with Billy and Jake." This seemed to relax Leah a bit.

"Leah, how bad are you hurt?" I asked as I approached. She eyed me warily, but answered my question.

"The dark haired one bit me."

Sam froze in place and then looked right at me. "Vampire venom is poisonous to us."

I rushed over to Leah, and the first thing I noticed when I touched her was that her body temperature was lower than that of either Jacob or Sam. The next thing was that her heart rate was elevated above the norm for the wolves.

I knew that this wasn't good. Pulling my phone out of my pocket and called Carlisle. He answered on the first ring.

"I'm nearly to La Push, Edward," he said.

"I'm at the Clearwater house, Leah was bit by Laurent," I said. Sam seemed surprised that I knew the name of the vampire who bit Leah, but he then chalked it up to me having gathered the name from the thoughts of one of the rogues.

"What is her current condition?" Carlisle asked. I could tell he was worried by the tone of his voice.

"Body temperature is lower than the norm for the wolves and heart rate is heavily accelerated," I replied. I already knew what he was going to say, but I held out hope anyway.

Carlisle sighed, "I'm sorry, Edward."

He didn't need to tell me what I already knew, but I had hoped he'd tell me otherwise. It was too late. The venom had already reached her heart. "Make her as comfortable as you can. I'll be there soon."

I ended the call with Carlisle. Sam was looking at me with pleading eyes. He had heard what Carlisle said.

"There has got to be something you can do," Sam demanded.

"I'm sorry… I…" I sighed, "The venom has already reached her heart, it's too late. Once it reaches the heart it only takes a matter of minutes to spread over the body."

Jasper finally spoke again, "You should let Seth tell her goodbye."

Sam picked up Leah, "I don't want him seeing his mom laying there."

We followed after Sam and headed back to Jacob's house. Carlisle arrived as we reached Jacob's house. He grabbed a box of medical supplies out of the trunk and joined us as we all entered the house.

Sam carried Leah into the living room and laid her on the floor.

"LEAH!" Seth yelled and ran over. Rachel tried to stop him but he managed to get away and rush to Leah's side.

"Seth," Leah said weakly. Seth grabbed hold of her right hand.

"Please don't die, Lee," Seth cried.

"Its okay, Seth… I love you little brother," Leah said.

"No, please do something," Seth said looking at me.

The pained expression on his face caused my eyes to fill with venom and for the first time ever I felt completely helpless. "I'm sorry, Seth. There isn't anything I can do."

"You saved me, please you can save her too," Seth begged. My heart broke watching the tears stream down his face.

Jasper walked over to Seth and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Seth."

Leah looked at Jasper, "Protect him. She said she'd be back for him."

I stiffened as I saw the memory in Leah's mind. Victoria told her they'd be back for Seth.

Leah didn't speak again. She closed her eyes and her breathing began to become shallower. "Leah, please don't go. I love you," Seth cried.

Her heart rate slowed and finally stopped. Her right hand went limp in Seth's grasp. She was gone. Seth started sobbing uncontrollable and Jasper pulled him into a tight embrace. Seth wrapped his arms around Jasper and cried. There wasn't a dry eye in the room.

Thomas, Paul's Father, who was the Tribal Law Enforcement officer, had finished writing up the _report_ on what happened to Sue and Leah. He then came over to Billy's to talk about Seth. Sam and Emily were still there when he arrived.

"Sam, I need to know if you and Emily will be looking to gain guardianship of Seth?" Thomas asked.

"I wish we could, Thomas," Sam said.

"I'm pregnant with our first child, Thomas. We just found out yesterday. We'd love to take Seth in, but with a child on the way and having such a small house I'm afraid we'd never get approved," Emily added.

Thomas sighed, "CPS has gotten much stricter on their placement requirements. We'll need to find someone to take him in or they'll place him in the Foster Care System."

"If he leaves the reservation we won't be able to protect him," Jacob said. His voice was expressing his deep concern and worry for Seth's safety.

"What about his biological father?" Thomas asked.

"He doesn't live on the reservation," Billy replied.

"So we end up with the same issue, we need to find someone on the reservation to take him in?" Sam said.

"What if we can't find anyone?" Jacob asked. "I don't want him going into the Foster Care system. They could end up placing him at the complete other end of the state and we'd be much too far away to protect him."

I looked over at Jasper and I could see his concern and worry etched upon his face. _'Maybe we could help?' _He said.

_'You want us to take him in?'_ I asked. Jazz nodded and I could see the determination building in his eyes. I had to admit that I didn't want Seth to end up in Foster Care. There was no way I was going to let Victoria hurt him. I also knew that Jazz had taken what Leah said to heart.

"If you are unable to find a home for him here on the reservation then Jasper and I will be willing to allow him to come live with us. He would be safe from Victoria, and I believe that both Jasper and I have proven we can be trusted. He would have nothing to fear from us," I said.

Silence filled the room, but I could also hear them all considering it. Their thoughts of hope were slightly tempered by their thoughts of their traditions, legends and some fear.

"I know that agreeing to this goes against many of your legends. Allow him to come to live with us would require a great deal of trust on all our parts. You all know that we work in the hospital on a nearly daily basis and we are surrounded by human blood. You know that Sue saw us working in the presence of blood on many occasions. She trusted us, and I hope you'll consider what we are offer. I want Seth safe. My family will not allow Victoria or anyone to hurt him," Jasper added.

"I don't want him placed in a home on the other end of the state. If this ensures that he is somewhere that we can protect him that it is something we should seriously consider," Sam said.

"Sue did trust both of you. She told the council after Seth's accident that if it weren't for the two of you he'd have died before getting the medical help he needed," Billy said.

"His injuries were life threatening. He lost a lot of blood before arriving at the hospital. From what I can remember we gave him five pints via transfusion. The human body consists of about ten pints of blood when a person has reached adulthood. It wasn't five pints all at once that he got but over the course of his treatment," I said.

"There was an artery in his leg that was ripped open. I remember tying a belt around his leg to stop the bleeding," Jacob said.

"That is where he lost most of the blood from. Your quick thinking gave us the time needed to fix the damage," Jasper replied.

"Having a place for Seth to go would make it much easier for me to get the case placed in Tribal Court. We would then be able to decide where he ends up, but if we don't have a place CPS may run him through family court," Thomas said. "There is also the issue of Seth's biological father, that could complicate things as well."

"I will make calls to all the families that maybe able to help. If we can't find anyone here on the reservation then I will leave it up to Jake to decide where we go from there," Billy said.

"If you don't find anyone then we take Jasper and Edward up on their offer," Jacob said. No one argued with him.

"Let us know either way," Jasper said. "Jake when you have recovered I'd like to speak with you privately about another matter."

"I'll stop by in the next day or two," Jacob said.


	15. Aftermath

**A\N: **I want to let you all know that there maybe longer periods between updates for the foreseeable future. I have recently started a new job and my writing time is going to be cut down because of it. I'm currently looking at a three to four week delay between updates. Hopefully this will change after the holidays.

Note to Knight and his Squire Reviewers. I have not forgotten about my promise to get you chapter 1 of the sequel. I had some changes that needed to be made to it, but I will have it ready for you all to read soon.

Enjoy! Also I love to hear your comments so please post a review.

**Beta: Moonlit Frog **(Thanks for all your help!)

**Chapter 14: Aftermath**

**POV: Jasper**

Jacob was making quick progress on healing from his injuries. After Carlisle had treated him we worked on creating a cover story. Alice had called and given us what she had been able to gather from her visions. It was difficult for her to see everything because all the wolves, except for Jacob, made her visions vanish. She told us that we'd be able to convince almost everyone that an animal attack had killed Sue and Leah.

Tribal Law Enforcement had investigated the attack. Paul's father, Thomas, the Tribal Law Enforcement Officer led the investigation. Because he was aware of what really happened it was easier to get the cover story written as the official cause of death.

While all that was going on Seth had cried himself to sleep in my arms. The events of the day had completely worn him out. Jacob told me to put him in his room and they'd look after him. Carlisle headed home after making sure that Jacob was past the critical point in his recovery. Edward and I headed home a while later.

All of the family was gathered at Edward and my place. Eleazar, Carmen and Katie were still visiting, so they joined us as well. I couldn't believe that Sue was dead. Everything just seemed like a horrible dream. For the most part, I was feeling numb.

It was mostly silent in the room except for the sounds of everyone breathing. No one had said much after Carlisle had called Tanya to let her know that Laurent had been killed after attacking the reservation.

When Tanya started in on how we should have defended him Carlisle's normal calm demeanor evaporated.

~ * ~ Flashback ~ * ~

"_Jasper should have defended Laurent instead of fighting with James," Tanya said. I heard her loud and clear. I rose from the sofa to take the phone from Carlisle and give Tanya a piece of my mind, but Edward wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me down into his lap._

"_At least I don't betray the people I call family!" I yelled._

"_Laurent attacked our friends and allies. We do not defend those that attack our friends," Carlisle said more calmly then my yelling. I was pissed with Tanya. 'How dare her!'_

"_He was family. Family is more important than a bunch of flea bitten wolves," Tanya yelled._

"_Laurent was not our family and we will not protect someone who violates the rules or endangers us. He blinded you and Irina into thinking that he was a friend. He used you to endanger my family. I will not stand here and listen to you tell me who my family should or should not defend. We know where our loyalties lie and we do not betray those who we call family or friends," Carlisle said angrily into the phone._

"_How dare you…"_

"_I've heard enough Tanya. You've made your point and now I will make mine. You and Irina are no longer family. If either of you come near us I will not stop Jasper from tearing you apart. You have betrayed us and we can no longer trust you," Carlisle said._

"_Go to hell," Tanya said and ended the call._

"_Well that went better than expected," Carlisle sighed._

"_Tanya will come around after she has cooled off. I'm sorry that she upset you, Carlisle," Kate said._

"_It is not your fault, Kate," Carlisle replied._

"I really don't want to have to move," Rosalie said. "I was just starting to like it here."

"Jasper and I will not be moving. Victoria is still alive and she will be back for Seth. We won't leave him undefended," Edward said.

"I don't see us leaving," Alice said.

"We're not leaving," Carlisle said. "Edward, I need you to listen to the thoughts of people around town. I just want to be sure that no one suspects anything. I am fairly certain that no one will dispute the cover story, but I'd like to be completely certain."

"We should go after Victoria," Demetri said.

"It would be pointless. Victoria is gifted. She has the ability to sense when she is in danger and how to get out of it," Edward replied.

"So we just wait?" Emmett asked. He was annoyed that Victoria had gotten away.

"We don't have much choice," I said.

"Why would they attack the reservation and not us?" Riley asked.

"James wanted to get back at Jasper. He felt humiliated by him and what happened in New Hampshire. He knew we were moving here and that Carlisle, Jasper and I would be working at the hospital. He knew that Sue also worked there. His plan was to kill Sue, Leah and Seth to get back at us," Edward explained.

That made me very angry. "I should have thought twice about turning that piece of shit to ash. I could have put him back together again and rip him apart repeatedly."

"Jazz, calm down," Edward said. He tightened his arms around me. "I know you are angry. I'm angry at him, but he's dead. He won't hurt anyone ever again."

I closed my eyes and concentrated on Carlisle's calm emotions.

"What will happen to Seth?" Esme asked.

"Since he's not eighteen-years-old, he'll become a ward of the state. I had thought that Emily and Sam would take him in because she is his cousin, but they won't be able too. Emily just recently became pregnant with their first child. There is no room in their small house for Seth," Edward said.

"It will be difficult to protect him if he ends up in the Foster Care system," Carlisle said.

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing, but the law allows for the tribe to have a say in who can foster him." Edward replied.

"What about Jake and his dad?" Riley asked.

"No, Billy is disabled and has difficult moving around. While it wouldn't exactly exclude him from being a potential Foster Parent it would make it very difficult," Edward replied.

"Edward and I spoke to Billy, Jake, Sam and Paul's Father Thomas about it before we left," I began. "Thomas will need to report to CPS very soon about Sue's death. He's going to try and get CPS to agree to let the Tribal Court decide what happens to Seth, but it may not be that simple."

"What's the problem?" Carlisle asked, he was not present for that conversation.

"It's a long and complicated story, but the short of it is that Seth was Sue's biological nephew, not her son. Julia Uley, Sue's younger sister, was his biological mother. We know that she never put the name of Seth's father on his birth certificate. We also know that Sue knew who it was and that he was not Quileute. CPS may try to find him, but we don't know yet," I answered.

"Do you know who it is?" Carlisle asked Edward.

"No, Sue never thought of the man's name in my presence. We do know it is someone local or who may have at one time been local," Edward replied.

"Alice?" Carlisle said.

Alice looked at Edward and me. "What are you two planning?"

"We offered to foster Seth if no one on the reservation could be found to take him in," I said.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but what the fuck are you thinking? He's human," Rosalie said.

"We are well aware that he is human Rosalie. Jazz and I are not going to just sit back and let Victoria hurt him. Our offer is a last resort, to protect him if he is unable to stay on the reservation," Edward replied annoyed.

Rosalie took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I don't mean to sound like I don't care. I don't want him hurt, but he is human. What happens if you do take him in and he somehow injures himself?"

I tilted my head to the side and looked at Rosalie. "You do know that both Edward and I are around blood almost daily. Human blood doesn't have the same effect on us as it does the rest of you. He'll be safe with us."

"It's premature to start planning with him moving in with Jasper and me. Billy said that they would speak with other families in the community to find Seth a home on the reservation. None of them want Seth in the normal foster care system, especially Sam and Jake. Jake is adamant about him stay on the reservation or with Jazz and I if no one can be found to take him in," Edward said.

"I think it is a wonderful thing that the two of you are willing to take him in. I know that Sue was a friend to both of you, especially to Jasper," Esme said.

"Oh…" Alice said. When I turned my head in her direction her eyes were unfocused. She was having a vision.

"Jake and Billy are on their way over. It would appear they were unable to find anyone to take in Seth," Edward said.

Alice came out of her vision. "It would be best if just Carlisle, Jasper and Edward were here. The rest of us should head up to the main house."

Thirty minutes later and Jacob arrived with his father. Jacob brought his dad's wheelchair in first and then carried his dad in.

"Hello Billy," I greeted.

"Jasper."

I looked over to Jake. "Alice saw that the two of you were coming over."

Jake looked at his dad and then back at me, "We were not able to find anyone on the reservation to take in Seth."

"Let sit and talk," Edward said.

Jake pushed his dad over to the sitting area where Carlisle was waiting for us. After everyone was settling I turned to Jake.

"We have been unable to find anyone on the reservation that is willing to take in Seth. CPS has specific criteria that they use and we have contacted everyone on the reservation that meets the requirements, but we have met with no success," Billy replied. "There were rumors when Seth was born that he was not full Quileute and that has made some members of the Tribe hesitant to take him in. Others just don't have the resources or space."

"We gave Seth the option of coming to live with you and Edward. He is willing, but he doesn't know that you've offered to take him in," Jacob added.

"We have already offered, so that shouldn't be a problem," I said.

"We just wanted to be sure the offer still stands," Jake said. "It's been a stressful day with having to deal with all that has happened."

"Our offer still stands. We will do everything we can to protect him," I said.

"I have a couple of questions," Edward added.

Jacob chuckled. "No it doesn't work that way," Edward said in answer to some unspoken question from Jacob.

"Have you told Seth the truth about what happened?" Edward asked.

"No, but he will need to be told everything. It would be unfair to him if he doesn't know what is happening," Billy answered.

"So he doesn't know about us either then?" I asked.

"No. We'll need to explain everything to him and make sure he understands the danger he is now in," Jacob said.

"What about Seth's biological father will be come forward now that Seth is without any family to take him in?" Edward asked.

Billy shook his head, "No. I spoke with him earlier this evening. I conveyed to him the importance of Seth moving in with you and Jasper. He understands that Seth will be safe with the two of you."

"How much did you tell him?" I asked.

"I have not told him about vampires or what happened today if that is what concerns you. This person is aware of our legends, though he does not put much faith in them. He was aware of my stance towards your family when you first moved here. Learning that I have put those differences aside seems to have conveyed how important it is that Seth be kept safe," Billy answered.

"I want to be sure that he will not try to contest guardianship of Seth. Edward and I are prepared to go further than just Fostering Seth if necessary for him to stay safe," I said.

"How much further?" Jake asked.

"We'd be willing to adopt Seth to keep him in the safe," Edward answered.

"Edward and I discussed this when we got home. We feel that Seth needs to have stability in his life as quickly as possible. We want to make sure that first and foremost he feels loved and safe. After things have begun to stabilize in his life we want to make sure he has the option to go to college or whatever he wants to do after he completes high school," I further explained.

"These are things that we'll discuss further with Seth. We want him to make the decisions about what he wants, and we'll help him however we can," Edward added.

"What is our next step?" Jacob asked.

"You'll need to get Thomas to contact CPS. I'll contact a lawyer in the morning to take care of the paperwork for Edward and me. Unless there is some unknown complication we should have guardianship granted with a couple of days. Until then he is welcome to come stay with us if he needs a place," I answered.

"I'll have Jake bring him by tomorrow. I think it would help him begin healing if he were settled as quickly as possible," Billy said.

"I agree. We'll prepare his room tonight and have it ready for him tomorrow," Edward said.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow then," Jake said. He left with his dad shortly after that.

Edward and I had spent a good part of the night preparing Seth's room. We were planning to give him the bedroom that was next to ours. It had its own ensuite bathroom and was the second largest bedroom.

Shortly after eight in the morning I placed a call to Jenks' office. J. Jenks aka Jason Scott is a lawyer that I have used for the past twenty years. Jason is well aware that I do not age, but he doesn't ask questions. The man is terrified of me and that is the way I prefer it.

"Mr. Jasper, It's a pleasant surprise to you from you," Jason said with a heavy amount of fear lacing his tone. The last time we had spoken was almost two years ago. He had prepared forged documents for the family. Calling him again this soon was uncommon. It unnerved him when I made unexpected calls or dropped by. I'm pretty sure it's wrong to feel pleased by that, but it always brought a smile to my face.

"I have work for you Jay. Legitimate work and I expect it to be handled as a priority. Drop whatever else you are doing and focus solely on this job," I said.

"Of course Mr. Jasper," Jason replied. "You are my number one priority client."

I had no doubt that I was Jason's number one client. The man was terrified of disappointing me, and rightly so.

"Yesterday morning a very close family friend was killed by a wild animal. She leaves behind a son, who needs a home. CPS will be contacted by the authorities in a few hours. I want you to make sure that Edward and I are granted guardianship of this boy," I said.

"Yes, Mr. Jasper," Jason replied. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was curious, but too afraid to ask whatever question he had.

"The boy's name is Seth Clearwater. He is a member of the Quileute Tribe in La Push. The Tribal Council and their Chief are in complete support of Seth being placed in the care of Edward and me."

"I will begin work on it immediately. I have a contact at CPS and I believe she will be able to make this happen without any difficult," Jason replied.

"Be sure that it does. If you screw this up Jay I'll be very unhappy, and you don't want me unhappy," I threatened.

I could hear Jason audibly swallow on the other end, "I will make this happen, Mr. Jasper."

"I'll call you this afternoon, it better be done," I said and ended the call.

Edward shook his head and rolled his eyes at me. "What?"

"Jasper, you are evil. That poor man is going to end up dying of a heart attack because of you," Edward replied.

I shrugged. "Jenks will survive. Beside he's made it twenty years with me terrifying him."

I couldn't help the smirk that ended up on my lips. Edward just shook his head again and went to his music room. "Esme is making lunch for Seth and Jacob. Alice's last vision shows them arrive in a couple of hours."

"I'm going to take Fenris for a run, he needs some exercise."

"See you when you get back," Edward called from the music room.

I took Fenris for a run along the river. We were gone a couple of hours before returning home. Jake and Seth were in the kitchen eating the lunch that Esme had prepared. I could tell from how little food had been eaten on Seth's plate that he wasn't feeling hungry. His emotions were filled with pain, sadness and lost.

I filled Fenris' bowl with fresh cold water and then joined into the conversation that Edward and Jake were having.

"Part of me seriously wants to go kill that bitch you call a cousin for causing all this mess," Jake said angrily.

"Stand in line," I said. My tone was bitter. I was still very angry with what Irina had done. I highly doubted that I'd ever be able to trust her again.

"Victoria is of greater concern at the moment. Irina would be stupid to attack us," Edward said.

"Intelligence doesn't seem to be her strong suit," Jake replied.

"I have to agree with Jacob," I said.

"Seth, if you're not hungry, don't force yourself to eat it," Edward said. He was look at Seth with concern.

Seth nodded and pushed the plate of food away. "Have either of you told him yet?"

Jake and Edward both shook their heads negatively.

"Let's all go sit in the other room, it'll be more comfortable in there to talk," I said. Jake grabbed his plate and led the way. Seth joined me one of the sofas and Edward and Jake sat on the other.

"Seth, I know this will be difficult but we need to know what you saw yesterday. There are a lot of things that we need to explain to you," I said.

After a few minutes of silence Seth began to recount to us what he saw yesterday. Both Edward and I were surprised at how much detail he had observed in such a short amount of time.

"It wasn't an animal that attacked mom and Leah like everyone is saying," Seth said after completing his story.

"No, Seth it wasn't, but it is important that everyone else believe that it was an animal attack," I said.

Seth nodded, "I know. Jake said that it would keep other people safe if they believe it was an animal that…"

"Jake is right, but it is also important that we now tell you the truth. You are in a lot of danger Seth, and that is why you are coming to live with Edward and me. We promise to keep you safe."

"Seth, do you remember the story about the Third Wife that Old Quil tells?" Jake asked.

"She was Taha Aki's wife. She died protecting the village from the Cold Ones," Seth answered.

"That's right," Jake replied, but then asked another question. "What are Cold Ones?"

"Blood drinkers, the pale faces call them vampires."

"What color are their eyes?" Jake asked.

"Red…" Seth answered; he was quiet for a moment. "Did Cold Ones really kill mom and Leah?"

"Yes."

"Vampires aren't supposed to be real…" Seth said.

"Neither are horse sized wolves," Jake said with a sad smile. "Do you remember the story about my great-grandfather Ephraim?"

"He made a peace treaty with the Yellow Eyes," Seth said. "The coven was larger than most and they would have won the fight, but their leader offered a treaty."

"That's correct," Jake said.

"Rosalie had discovered a strange and pungent scent in the woods northwest of Hoquiam. So we went to investigate. It was Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and me. There were three of them and six of us," Edward began.

Seth looked over at him strangely, but said nothing.

"Carlisle offered a treaty to Ephraim. We would stay off Quileute Lands, and they agreed not to tell the pale faces about us," Edward added.

I could feel fear rising in Seth, but also confusion. "We won't hurt you Seth. Edward and I want to keep you safe."

"You're the Yellow Eyes?" Seth said while looking at me.

I nodded, "We don't feed on humans. We live on the blood of animals, which is why our eyes are yellow."

Seth looked over at Jake, "Its true Seth. The Cullens are our friends. Jasper saved my life when they first moved here, and yesterday they helped us stop the ones who attacked the village."

"Victoria still got away, but we'll find her," I said.

Seth seemed to relaxes, but the fear was still there. "She is the one that Leah said would be back for me."

"I promise you, Seth, no one will hurt you."

"The pack will protect you too. You'll be safe with Edward and Jasper. I wouldn't bring you here if I wasn't one hundred percent sure you'd be safe," Jake added.

"I know I'll be safe, I… I just wish this was all a bad dream," Seth said.

"I wish it were too, Seth. I would love to be able to tell you it was all a dream, but it's real. I know it's hard, but we'll all help you move on," Edward said.

I gentle gave Seth a hug, "We care about you Seth and we'll do everything we can to help you."

Seth didn't bring a whole lot of his personal possessions. He had only brought some clothes, and a few other miscellaneous items. Jake said that Sam and Emily would go through the items in Sue's house after the funeral service which was scheduled was to occur in two days.

Alice had brought over some clothes from Riley's closet that he hadn't worn. I made sure that she understood not to overwhelm him. I knew that Alice meant well, but Seth was in a fragile state still and need time to heal before being engulfed by Typhoon Alice.

I called Jenks just after four in the afternoon. Alice said he had completed the task, but I had told him I'd call and I felt it important to keep my word.

"Jay, you'd better have good news for me," I said. Edward had his eyes closed and was shaking his head at me. _'You're no fun.'_

"I spoke with my contact at CPS and everything is set for a guardianship hearing tomorrow morning at nine am. The hearing will be at the Courthouse in Port Angeles. He hearing is only a formality. CPS has been told by the Quileute Nation that they full support guardianship of Seth Clearwater being granted to Edward and you, Mr. Jasper," Jason said.

"Edward and I will meet you there with Seth. We'll take care of your payment at your office later in the afternoon."

"Yes, Mr. Jasper. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow," Jason said. Liar, you are scared to death to see me tomorrow. _'Well crap I'll have to keep him calm during the hearing. I'll just have to have fun with him in the afternoon.'_

"Jasper Cullen, so help me…" Edward said. I just grinned.

"See you tomorrow Jay," I said and ended the call.

'You had better behave yourself or I'll be forced to punish you," Edward said. "No it won't be pleasant."

I frowned, "You are no fun."

"I'm lots of fun, babe. You just need to behave yourself," Edward said then kissed me on the cheek.


	16. Not the World You Think…

**A/N: **First off I'd like to apologize for the huge gap since my last posted chapter. I've not had much time to write in the past nine-months. I have however complete a new chapter for you and I have another chapter that is also done. The other chapter will likely be chapter 17. I have some additional plans for Chapter 16.

I also have a few outtakes that I'm trying to wrap up and they will hopefully be ready with chapter 16. The outtakes will be posted to my website.

I'd love to hear your feedback on this chapter so please post a review!

Also a HUGE thank you to Moonlit Frog for sticking with my as my beta! I appreciate all your help!

**Chapter 15: Not the World You Think…**

**POV: Jacob**

I returned home after leaving Seth at Jasper and Edward's home. I was exhausted when I walked into my dad's house. I slipped off my boots and hung my coat on one of the hooks by the door. Walking further into the house I found dad in the kitchen grabbing a beer from the fridge.

"Hey, old man," I said.

"Jacob, good, you're home," dad began. "We have a problem."

I didn't like the tone of voice he used, he was anxious and worried. "What kind of problem?"

"I just got off the phone with Seth's father and he's having second thoughts," Dad said.

"Dad, you said you had impressed upon him how important it was that Seth stay with the Cullens," I replied.

"Jacob, I'm well aware of how important it is that we keep Seth safe. I've done everything I can to impress that importance upon Seth's father. He feels that he needs to be a part of Seth's life and he believes the only way that can happen is if he claims his paternal rights."

"We need to get this moved to Tribal Court. We can control what happens there, but not in the normal court system," I said.

"Thomas said that CPS would oppose the move, but that in the end we would get it moved; it would just take time. I don't think it would be wise to pursue that option. It would make things more difficult for Seth. He wouldn't be able to move on until all this is settled."

"What do you suggest we do?" I asked.

"I don't know. Let me talk to Seth's father again in the morning."

I shook my head. "No. I need you to tell me who it is and I will deal with it."

"Jake, I can't…"

"You can, and you will. I'm sorry dad, but I'm not going to play games with Seth's life. There is at least one vampire out there determined to kill him."

Dad sighed, and tried staring me down. I was not going to budge on this issue anymore. He was going to tell me who Seth's father is. It took him several long minutes before he finally spoke.

"Alright, but you must promise that this information will not be shared with anyone else."

"It might be necessary to share this information with Jasper and Edward. If Seth's father wants to be part of Seth's life they will eventually need to know," I reasoned.

"We'll cross that bridge when it becomes necessary," Dad replied.

"Alright, so who is Seth's father?"

I drove over to Seth's father's home early the following morning. I parked in front of the small two story house that hadn't ever changed. I took a deep breath and then got out of my car and headed for the front door.

I had debated all night with myself if this was the right thing to do or if I should try some other method, but in the end we were running out of time and this had to be done. If this didn't work then I was out of options.

I knocked on the door and listened as I heard footsteps coming toward the door. "Oh, hello Jacob."

"Hello Charlie. I need to talk to you, and show you something. Will you follow me to the forest behind the house?" I asked.

"I'm a little busy. I have to get to Port Angeles," Charlie said. My heart felt like it my beat out of my chest on hearing that. I knew why Charlie was going to Port Angeles, and that made this task all the more important.

"This will only take a moment, and it's very important."

"Okay, but we need to be quick. I can't be late," Charlie replied.

I lead us to the forest behind the house. I could feel my muscles tense and butterflies fill my stomach. I didn't know what kind of reaction Charlie would have, but I couldn't think about that right now. When we got far enough into the forest that I didn't think anyone could see us I turned to face Charlie.

"Charlie, I need you to keep an open mind," I said as I pulled off my jacket and started slipping out of my boots.

Charlie gave me a funny expression, "Ah, Jacob what are you doing."

"Charlie, there are things in this world that you do know even know exist. The world you live in is very different then you believe," I said as I continued to strip.

"Jacob, stop taking off your clothes," Charlie said slightly exasperated. I finished unbuttoning my pants as he said this.

"Well here goes," I said. With that I pushed my jeans and boxer briefs down around my ankles and stepped out of them. I closed my eyes and a shudder rushed through me. When I opened my eyes I was standing on four legs and saw Charlie stagger backwards, barely catching himself before he fell.

I dropped my head and whimpered slightly.

"Jacob?" Charlie finally said after a moment. He was pale and visibly shaken. I nodded my head, and Charlie expression was one of complete disbelief. I waited several minutes just standing there as he stared at me with numerous emotions playing across his face. I finally shifted back into human form, and quickly dressed.

"I'm sorry, but there was no other way to make you understand that you can't protect Seth," I said.

"What are you talking about?" Charlie said.

"Charlie, I know that you are Seth's father. I made dad tell me last night, because you are about to make a horrible mistake that could cost both you and Seth your lives. You don't live in the world you think you do," I replied.

"What are you?"

"I am a shape-shifter. One of the Tribal Protectors of our legends. There are a few others of us that protect the tribe, and we try to keep Forks safe too," I said.

Charlie reached up with one hand and pushed his fingers through his dark hair. "I don't understand. Safe from what? And what does this has to do with Seth, or me."

"I can't tell you a whole lot, Charlie," I replied "But what I can tell you is that Seth is in grave danger and the only place he will be safe is with Jasper and Edward. I would prefer he stay on the reservation, but we couldn't find anyone to take him in."

"I'm the chief of police. I think I am capable of protecting my son," Charlie replied.

"No, you aren't. Do you think my people would have protectors that turn into horse-sized wolves if humans could protect themselves from cold ones? They are faster, stronger, and have better senses and reflexes than any human could ever dream to have. They are the ultimate predator. My people have fought them for generations," I said with confidence.

"What is a Cold One, and how is Seth in danger?"

"I can't answer that first question, because it would cause more problems. What I can say is that there is a Cold One who is determined to kill him. This Cold One lost her mate when they attacked the tribe."

"If your people need…" Charlie waved his hand at me, "… To protect them, than how are Jasper and Edward expected to protect Seth? Do they turn into animals too?"

I couldn't help but chuckle. I'm certain that both Jasper and Edward would be offended to know that Charlie thought that they might turn into animals.

"No, they don't turn into animals. Jasper and Edward, all of the Cullens, are more than capable of protecting Seth. I can say no more on that subject."

"Why?"

"I just can't."

"I don't understand. When they moved here your father was adamant about how evil they were. It was like the world was going to end in his eyes. He seemed to be completely wrong. The Cullens have been good for this town. I know that Seth owes his life to Edward. Maybe that is what changed everything, but it seemed to change before that too."

"My father is a prejudiced old man, who sometimes makes mistakes. The Cullens are friends of the tribe, and they have done a lot of good for the town. You are also correct that Seth wouldn't be here if it weren't for Edward. Sue made that very clear at a tribal council meeting after the accident."

"That is another thing. You are suddenly Chief of your tribe. I can't seem to wrap my head around that. You're not even twenty yet. Not to mention that the tribe was run by the council until shortly after the Cullens moved here."

"I'm chief because I am Alpha of the wolf pack like my great grand-father before me. Tradition demands that the Alpha of the wolf back also serve as chief of the tribe," I answered.

"Why wasn't the Alpha before you Chief?" Charlie asked.

"There were no tribal protectors until recently. The last time our tribe had protectors was when Ephraim was Chief. Since that time there has been no need for tribal protectors, but the need arose again and some of us transformed. Carlisle believes that the genes that control the transformation became active again when it sensed danger," I answered.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Let Seth stay with Jasper and Edward, where he will be safe. Dad said you wanted to be part of Seth's life. I can make that happen, but you have to let him live with the Cullens. This will also mean having to tell Jasper and Edward the truth, but I know they would help make that happen. You want Seth safe, and this is the safest place for him. I wouldn't suggest this unless I was absolutely certain that Seth would be safe with them," I suggested.

"They can also keep it a secret. They are good at keeping them," I added as an afterthought.

"Sue and Leah, they weren't killed by a wild animal were they? They were killed in the attack on the tribe that you mentioned."

"The less you know, Charlie, the safer you are. If wild animals were all we had to worry about than Seth wouldn't be in danger. That is all I will say." I had already said far too much and I knew that Charlie was not stupid. He would eventually piece everything together given enough time. I just hoped for his sake, and Seth's, that he wouldn't try.

"You are certain he will be safe with Jasper and Edward?"

"Absolutely. Jasper is not someone to be trifled with," I replied without hesitation.

"Alright, I won't interfere. I just want what is best for my son. I know I haven't been the best father, but I do want what is best for him," Charlie said. He looked up at me. "I stayed out of his life because Julia was adamant that it was best for Seth if I wasn't involved. I realize now that I shouldn't have let her talk me into staying away."

"You can still be a part of his life. I don't think he would hate you for doing what you thought was best," I replied.

"I don't know," Charlie sighed. "If Jasper and Edward are agreeable I would like to tell Seth the true at some point, but I think right now he just needs to deal with what has happened and doesn't need me complicating his life."

"I can talk to them about it," I offered.

Charlie shook his head, "No. That is my responsibility. I've let others handle my relationship with Seth for far too long. It's time that I handle it myself. I will speak with Jasper and Edward about it at some point."

I nodded, "You are doing the right thing, Charlie. When the danger has passed…"

"No. This needs to be a permanent thing for him. His life isn't a game. No matter how much I would want him to live with me and for us to be a family that isn't an option. I have to make the right decision here and do what is best for him."

I sighed, "Thank you."

"You look exhausted Jake." Charlie said after a moment.

I shrugged, "No more than usual. I have a lot on my mind, but you've helped relieve some of that. The tribe hasn't lost anyone since long before Ephraim's time. The fact it happened on my watch is not sitting well with me."

"I'm sure you did everything you could," Charlie said trying to easy my troubled mind.

"I'm not so sure, but either way what is done is done," I said. "I have to go."

I didn't want to dwell on the attack. I had been too laid back in our patrols. We should have sought out that vampire long before that attack happened.

I left Charlie's home feeling relieved, but also worried about how Jasper and Edward might react if they were to find out how I stopped Charlie from interfering. I was fairly certain they would not be pleased.

Alice and Riley were waiting at Jasper and Edward's home when I pulled into the driveway. I had expected to see Jasper and Edward along with Seth, but they didn't appear to be there.

"They left half an hour ago," Alice said as I exited my car. "They waited for you as long as they could, but Jasper didn't want to be late for the hearing."

"I had something I needed to do," I replied.

"I know," Alice said with a knowing look.

"You saw?" I said. I meant for it to come out more as a statement than a question.

"I see lots of things," Alice said coyly.

"Yes, she saw," Riley said. "I can't say that I agree with what you did, but Alice doesn't see any harm coming from it either."

"I did what I had to, to keep Seth safe." I defended.

Riley held up his hands. "I'm not going to argue or accuse you of anything. But you took a big risk that could have ended far differently than it did. I'm not very happy about what you did, because you've now placed my family at risk."

"I know, but I didn't see any other option. I couldn't just sit by."

"No you couldn't, and I probably would have done the same in your place," Riley said.

"So what now?" I asked.

"We're meeting Jasper, Edward and Seth in Seattle around noon. You should come with us," Alice replied.

"What does the future say?" I asked.

"The future says that you will come with us and be my personal ken doll," Alice replied. Riley started chuckling like it was some joke, but the way he was laughing actually kind scared me a bit.

"What do you mean by personal ken doll?" I asked.

"You'll see," Alice said as she wrapped her arm around mine and pulled me toward Jasper's Range Rover.

Riley drove, while Alice sat shotgun. I sat in the back and watched the scenery fly by as we sped down the highway toward Seattle. I was lost in my thoughts, and ignored the conversation passing between Riley and Alice. Time seemed to fly by and before I knew it we were in Seattle.

I quickly learned what Alice meant by _personal Ken doll_. Five pairs of jeans and twenty shirts later and I was so over it. I was thankfully saved by Jasper or so I thought.

I started to rethink the whole being _saved by_ concept when Jasper spoke. "So what did you do this morning that had Alice hiding her thoughts from Edward?"

At first I considered lying, but figured that Jasper would pick up on it. Instead doing my best to look unconcerned I replied, "Nothing that you need to worry about, Jasper."

That was probably not such a good idea. Jasper's facial expressions hardened and his voice was low and dark. "You did something this morning, and I know it has to do with Seth and his father. I got a call yesterday from Thomas Lahote saying that he heard Seth's father was going to come forward this morning at the custody hearing. No one came forward, which means that whatever Alice saw this morning that involved you also involved Seth's father."

Jasper stopped walking and turned to look at me. Even thought I was slightly taller than him he was not intimated at all by me. For just a moment I felt a spike of fear climb up my spine, and I knew it wasn't Jasper's doing; at least not from his ability.

"Do you want to amend your earlier statement?" His voice was cold.

I swallowed, and wished I was still playing _ken doll_ for Alice. "I, umm, you're right I went to speak to Seth's father." I began to finally find my voice. "I explained to him that Seth would be safer with you and Edward."

"Go on."

"Well… I… umm… might have phased in front of him."

Jasper closed his eyes, and that was scarier than when he looked at me. I could see the muscles in his body tense as he tried to control his reaction. I figured I should keep talking and try to defuse the situation.

"I didn't say anything about your family, other than you could protect yourselves. As far as he knows Seth is in danger from the Cold Ones of our legends. I told him as little as possible, but I had to make sure he'd leave Seth with you and Edward."

"You should have talked to Edward and me first," Jasper replied after a moment. His voice was less dark, but still very tense.

"I don't need your permission to tell anyone about my tribe's legends," I argued in a low harsh whisper.

"No, you don't; but when those legends also involve my family you are placing us in danger. We agreed to take Seth in to keep him safe, not to increase the danger for my family. If you bring the Volturi down on us then you and I will have a score to settle when this is over. If we live that long."

"He won't say anything. You have my word on that," I said.

"Your word?" Jasper asked with an expression that clearly showed his disbelief. "You just told me that you exposed the supernatural world to Seth's biological father, after telling me it was nothing to worry about. You also took a long time to answer for something that wasn't a concern, which leads me to think that you considered lying to me; and now you are giving me your word? Do you think I am an idiot? Ephraim gave us his word and honored it until his death. His great-grandson gives me his word and I don't know whether to strangle you or kick your ass."

Jasper was seething with anger. "From where I come from when a man gives his word it means something. A man's word was all he had in my time, and if he didn't live up to it then no one trusted him. I have placed a great deal of trust in you. I hope that I have not misjudged you by doing so."

"Okay, I get it I should have just told you. Give me a break. I'm a fucking kid who is in over his head and can't tell up from down half the time, anymore." I said angrily. I couldn't help the tears that formed in my eyes. "You weren't there to see that bitch chasing him down. You have no idea how that felt. I will not let that happen again.

"Everyone looks to me to lead the tribe, but you can be damn well sure that they throw it in my face when I fuck up. I got told multiple times last night at the council meeting how while the tribe had protectors we had not lost anyone since long before Ephraim's time."

Jasper's anger melted away after that. He sighed, "You're right. I wasn't there and I don't know what happened during that time. I also understand that you are under a lot of stress as chief and alpha, but you're great-grandfather was an amazing leader of your people, and I have no doubt that his great-grandson is up to the challenge," Jasper replied. "However, I also do know what the Volturi are capable of and if word of what you did today leaks out they will come for all of us. They've been known to wipe out whole towns to protect the _Secret_."

"We won't let them."

"You don't understand, Jacob. You can't fight them fairly. They've not fought a fair battle since Aro acquired Jane and Alec. With but a single thought Jane can drop you to your knees. There is no defense against her, except for a mind shield and none exist. I have never in all my years come across any person with that ability. It doesn't exist. We'd all be dead in the blink of an eye."

"Sorry. I guess I didn't think it through," I replied with a sigh as I wiped the tears from my eyes. I did what I thought was the right thing, but maybe now it wasn't.

Jasper sighed, "I'm sorry that this is happening to you. No nineteen-year-old should have the lives of hundreds of people resting on their shoulders like you do. Ephraim was at least a decade older than you when we met him. He had a lot more life experiences to draw on."

"I don't have that luxury. I'm doing the best I can, but that doesn't seem to be good enough. I fucked up by not tracking down Laurent myself and finish him off before he could attack the tribe. I'm trying to make up for that mistake," I added.

Jasper nodded, "I suggest you avoid Rosalie for the next few days, or weeks. She's going to be furious with you when she finds out."

I cringed at the thought of Rosalie being pissed off with me, "Maybe you could not tell her?"

"We don't keep secrets in our family. We are successful because we are open and honest about everything. So no, I can't avoid telling her. If you're lucky she'll redirect most of her wrath at Alice for not stopping you. Though I wouldn't bet on getting off easy," Jasper replied.

"How did the custody hearing go?" I asked trying to redirect the conversation. I didn't want to deal with anymore crap.

Jasper smirked, obviously aware of what I was trying to do. Thankfully he didn't call me out on it. "The hearing went well. There were no objections to our taking guardianship of Seth. My lawyer did his job well, not that I expect any less from him."

We rejoined everyone else in Nordstrom where Alice was again picking out various outfits. I inwardly groan at the thought of playing _Ken_.

"I'll meet up with all of you in a couple of hours," Jasper said.

"Jasper, behave yourself," Edward said.

Jasper rolled his eyes, and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm always good."

"Jazz," Edward said in a warning tone.

"Relax, Edward. I haven't given Jenks a heart attack yet."

I didn't know what they were talking about, but it sound like this Jenks person might be fearful of Jasper.

"Alice," Jasper said.

Alice looked over at Jasper. "Go easy on Jacob."

For a moment I felt like Jasper was on my side. "Rosalie is going to rip him a new one tonight at the family meeting."

Jasper walked off laughing. '_Bastard!_'

"You're not funny!" I called after him. Jasper didn't break stride and his laughter continued.

"He says you just don't have the right sense of humor," Edward said.

"Whatever, your husband is a bastard," I said with annoyance. I could see a smirk on Edward's lips.

"Here Jacob, go try this on," Alice said handing me three dress shirts and two pairs of dress pants.

I sighed and grudgingly headed for the changing room.

**A/N: **I'd like to recommend to my readers to check out a book that was recently published. It's called Angel Bait and can be found on Amazon, Itunes, Barnes & Noble, etc as an E-Book. It was written by a close friend, Trish Skinner.


	17. Strain

A/N: STOP! Please read the Author's Note.

Apologies on the delay between chapters, but this chapter is much longer then any of the previous chapters in this story. It's about the length of three chapters, so hopefully that make sup for some of the delay. Chapter 17 is nearly complete. I have one more section to write and then just need to do the final edit before sending it to to be beta'd.

As always Thank you to for taking the time to beta this story!

This chapter also has many different points of view, and are noted. Please pay attention to the POV switches because it affect the way the story is read.

I normally don't like to do this, but made the comment about needing to re-read the chapter to understand Jacob's POVs. So if you do not want this chapter spoiled please skip the area marked by the Spoiler tags.

Spoiler

The specific area of difficult was the Spirit/Wolf Guide names. The Spirit "Guides/Wolves" are named after the person who they "Guide" i.e. Jacob's Spirit wolf is Neurion, which is Jacob in Elvish. I would have liked to use names from Native American Languages, but had a difficult time finding a good resource. So I decided to stick with a source that I know well, and that is Elvish Names. These names will continue to be used in the upcoming chapters.

When each new spirit guide is introduced they are linked to the wolf they guide.

Spoiler

Enjoy the story!

**Chapter 16: Strain**

**POV: Jasper**

We were gathered around the dining room table to discuss the guardianship hearing, and other matters. Seating arrangements at this meeting had become more strategic over the years.

As was customary, Esme took her seat to Carlisle's right. On Carlisle's left sat Alice, and beside her Riley. Edward sat beside Riley, which gave me the position opposite Carlisle. Emmett and Rosalie took up the other two available chairs, which left Demetri standing; and he preferred it that way. Seth and Jacob also joined us this evening and they stood behind Edward and me.

"We're going to need a bigger table," Esme mused. She was secretly excited at the thought of more family members.

Over the years Esme had become the master of controlling her facial expressions. She could give you the impression that she was angry with you, but inside her emotions were humorous. While she had spoken with an air of humor she was secretly longing for more '_children'_.

"Let us begin," Carlisle said and then gestured toward me, "Jasper, the floor is yours."

I nodded toward Carlisle and then began, "As you are all well aware today was the guardianship hearing for custody of Seth. I hired Jenks to work on the case and he pulled a few strings and got the process pushed through the system quickly. While I was at his office earlier today I finished filling out the necessary paperwork and he filed it with CPS."

"Welcome to the family, Seth," Esme said with a huge smile. She was beaming with excitement.

"That's code for '_I'm happy you are now part of the family because now I have someone to eat my cooking._'" Emmett said while laughing.

No one but Seth jumped at the sound of the smack to the back of Emmett's head. "I'm sorry, Seth. You will have to excuse my husband, he was dropped on his head as a child; repeatedly."

There were a few snorts and chuckles at Emmett's expense.

"Rosie," Emmett whined as he rubbed the back of his head, "Did you have to hit so hard."

Esme turned to Carlisle with a serious expression, "Where did we go wrong? I mean Edward and Jasper turned out to be such good boys."

"You just can't fix stupid, dear," Carlisle replied with a straight face.

The laughter started with everyone trying to suppress their snickers, but it just made the whole situation a hell of a lot funnier as Carlisle and Esme just looked back at all of us with straight faces. It took several minutes for us to all regain our composure.

I wondered briefly if Seth and Jacob thought we were all crazy.

"As I was saying," I began again. "Jenks filed the paper work with CPS and everything should be finalized in the next couple of days. We've decided that Seth will continue to attend the school in La Push. Jacob has agreed to allow Edward, Carlisle or I to cross the border to take Seth to and from school until he gets his driver's license."

Edward lifted his head and looked over at Carlisle. They had a brief exchange in which Edward answered verbally.

"I apologize, Seth. I didn't want to bring up a subject that might be sensitive to you, but Edward assures me that you are fine with discussing your biological Father," Carlisle said.

"Yes. I still don't know who he is, but I am fully aware that Harry and Sue were not my biological parents," Seth replied. His voice had cracked a little on Sue's name, but he was handling everything surprisingly well.

"Is there anything we need to be aware of on that front?" Carlisle asked.

"Jacob has something he'd love to share with all of us," I said. I said it with a calm expression, but on the inside I was smiling evilly.

"Gee, thanks Jasper," Jacob replied sarcastically.

"You're welcome. I'm always looking out for you," I said with a grin. I this case I was looking out for him, even if I was having a bit of fun with it. Alice had seen that it would be best to address the issue sooner rather than later.

'_Bastard!'_ I heard in my thought. Edward had shared Jacob's thoughts with me. I just grinned wider.

"Last night I was told by my father that he had a discussion with Seth's biological father. That discussion ended with Seth's biological father stating he was going to step forward to claim his parental rights. This would have undermined Seth's safety and could have been a major problem. If Seth's life wasn't in any danger then I wouldn't have done anything about it, but we all know the danger he is in," Jacob began.

Jacob turned to Seth, "I'm not trying to keep you from learning who your biological father is. If you want to reconnect with him I will help you, but I need to keep you safe."

Seth nodded, "I know."

"What did you do?" Rosalie asked slowly.

Jacob fumbled over his speech as he turned back to the table, - "I… um…" - and that tipped Rosalie off.

"You didn't?" Rosalie said, but Jacob didn't answer quick enough, "You did! What the hell where you thinking! You stupid mutt!"

"I didn't say anything about you!" Jacob said finally finding his voice. His anger was rising now that he was being confronted for his actions. I thought it best to defuse the situation and send out a strong wave of calm emotions.

Jacob sighed, "I have known the man who is Seth's biological father all my life and he is very trustworthy. I also didn't tell him that you all were vampires." Jacob added the last part quickly to keep Rosalie from speaking up.

Rosalie held her tongue and allowed Jacob to continue. "He is aware of our legends and I told him that he did not live in the world he thought he did. I went on to explain that Seth's life was in danger and the safest place for him was with Edward and Jasper. He agreed and said he would not petition for his parental rights."

"He agreed, just like that?" Rosalie asked, "So you didn't shift in front of him?"

"I didn't say that," Jacob replied.

"So you did shift in front of him," Rosalie countered.

"I didn't say that either," Jacob defended.

"I think it would be easier if you just told the whole truth, instead of leaving things out," Seth reasoned.

"Someone get this boy a cookie! He's brilliant," Emmett said. No one jumped this time when Rosalie smacked Emmett.

"What the hell was that for?" Emmett asked.

"I needed something to hit, and you were the closet unbreakable object in the room," Rosalie replied.

"Fine! I shifted in front of him. I told him the world he lives in is far more dangerous than he knew. I told him that this danger had claimed the life of two members of my tribe, one of which was a friend of his. I told him that Seth was in danger from the creature that killed Sue and Leah. He is also aware of the extreme danger he would place us all in if he spoke about any of this to anyone," Jacob said angrily.

"You trust this man with your life? I mean really trust him. Because you have placed your life in his hands," Rosalie said.

"Yes. He…" Jacob began to reply then stopped. "As I said earlier I have known him all my life and he has always been a trustworthy man."

"If this comes back to bite us in the ass you will be walking around with three legs, mutt." Rosalie said. She then directed her full on rage at Alice.

"You should have stopped him!"

Alice rolled her eyes, which set Rosalie's anger through the roof. "I did what I saw as the best option."

"Best option for who?" Rosalie yelled.

I sent out another wave of calm, which caused Rosalie to give me an irritated expression. "Do I need to remind everyone that your emotions do not only affect you?"

"I looked at what the possible future outcomes. I decided that it was best not to interfere. Nothing that Ch… That Seth's biological father may do will cause us any harm," Alice replied calmly.

"How can you be so certain that nothing he does will cause us harm?" Rosalie asked, but she didn't let Alice reply she kept going. "Your visions aren't foolproof, Alice. Jasper has proven that on more than one occasion! You rely too heavily on those visions!"

"You all expect me to predict the future and you know the limits, yet you all rarely question those visions. I've told you all, time and again it's not foolproof, but no one objects. Now suddenly they are an issue?"

"You're staking our lives on a human!" Rosalie yelled and stood up. Her chair feel backwards and she meant to slam her fist into the table, but it was caught my Emmett at the last second.

"Rosie, Esme will be very upset if you break her table. Please calm down babe," Emmett said.

Rosalie yanked her hand away from Emmett. "Rosie, you know I love you and that I would do anything for you. So I want you to do something for me," Emmett added.

Rosalie huffed before righting her chair and sitting back down. "I want you to put yourself in Jacob's place and imagine what you would do if it were me in Seth's place. How far are you willing to go to protect me?"

Rosalie didn't reply, but I could tell that Emmett had taken the wind out of her sails. She continued to stare straight ahead.

"Sometimes you do things for the people we care about without thinking of the consequences, and sometimes when we know what the consequences are we still do it. We do it because we love that person and we want to protect them," Emmett finished.

"Well said, Emmett," Carlisle said after a moment.

"Well maybe you can fix stupid," Esme said.

"Aww, mom. Now I'm going to have to do something dumb or you'll ruin my reputation!" Emmett whined.

"Spoke too soon, dear," Carlisle replied with a smirk. Esme and Carlisle's little bit of humor helped to defuse the tension in the room. "Does anyone else have anything they'd like to say on this topic?"

"I have something to say, it's not entirely related to this topic; but it is connected," Riley said.

"Go ahead."

"I think it is very unfair of everyone to expect my wife to not make mistakes with respect to her visions. It's not right that you all get angry with her if events don't turn out as planned or the way you expect. She can't control the future."

Rosalie stood and walked out of the meeting without a word. After a moment Emmett sighed, "Excuse me. I'll go try and calm her down."

Carlisle nodded and Emmett left the room.

"I didn't mean to upset anyone. I'm just angry that everyone expect so much from Alice, and is so quick to blame her when things do not go according to plan, or if she misses seeing something. She berates herself enough, and doesn't need anyone else's help," Riley added.

"We understand, Riley. You are correct that we often times take Alice's gift for granted, and do not realize the potential it possess to cause harm when we place too much faith in it," Carlisle said.

"Did anyone else have anything they want to discuss?"

"I have a request to make of Jacob," Demetri said.

Jacob looked up, and I could see the fatigue in his eyes.

"I know you are aware of my relationship with Angela Weber. I also know that the treaty between the Cullens and your people prevents me from changing her. However, she is my mate and if she choose to spend forever with me then I will grant her that request," Demetri began.

Jacob's shoulders slumped in a sign of defeat, but he didn't speak.

"I would prefer that my actions do not have a negative effect on the relationship between the Cullens and your people. If Angela chooses of her own free will to join me, then I ask that an exception be allowed in the treaty," Demetri finished.

Jacob dropped his head and closed his eyes. I could feel the pain in his emotions as he spoke, "I'm sorry. I can't…"

Jacob said no more. He turned and left the room. A moment later the front door opened and closed.

Demetri sighed, "I would have thought he'd have said yes if it were her choice. I don't understand."

"He didn't want to say no, but he feels he has no choice in the matter," Edward said softly. It was very much unlike Edward to reveal a person's private thoughts. Either Jacob have given permission or Edward was extremely concerned about Jacob's sudden change in demeanor.

"He's their leader. He must have a choice in the matter," Demetri replied.

"I..." Edward sighed. He released he had already said too much.

"Jacob told me earlier today that there was a council meeting last night and things did not go well. They are blaming him for what happened. He didn't go into specifics, but it sound like they really tore into him," I replied.

"He's too young to be dealing with all of the responsibilities placed on him," Esme said. "We should never have come back here."

"It's too late for that now," I said. "I know that Jacob does not blame us for what has happened to them, but that is not the case with all members of his tribe. They still fear us and view us as the enemy. I also get the impression that Jacob is under more strain than any of us realized."

"What do you propose we do?" Carlisle asked.

"I don't know, Carlisle. I have no experience in how to handle this type of situation. My initial thought is that we keep our distance, but let him know that we are here if he needs us. He's shown us a great deal of respect, trust and openness," I replied.

"Alice?"

"I'm sorry, Carlisle. I don't know. Jacob's future is extremely fuzzy and difficult to watch at the moment," Alice answered.

"Anyone else with suggestions?"

"I agree with Jasper. We need to keep our friendship with him, but allow him to come to us. I'm afraid that if we try to be proactive that we may cause more harm than good," Riley added.

"I believe the boy has wisdom beyond his years, but that he does not possess the experience needed to deal with the strain of leadership. He also is from a long line of powerful chieftains and that place an exuberant amount of stress upon him," Demetri also added.

"This is not a battle we can fight for him. He must find it within himself to follow in the footsteps of his forefathers. I believe that within him lies the power to be a great leader for his people, but he must find the confidence within himself," I said.

"Jasper is correct. I believe all we can offer at the moment is our friendship. If no one else has anything to add we will adjourn," Carlisle said.

~ * ~ Change ~ * ~

A week passed before we saw Jacob again. I knew he only came because Rosalie must have said that Seth was not sleeping well at night. I had let slip to Rosalie earlier in the day that Seth had barely been sleeping each night.

The nightmares that plagued his sleep woke him throughout the night. I had yet to experience any of Seth's nightmares myself. This was because Edward and I had begun working opposite shifts. We only saw each other in passing. I worked nights and Edward worked days.

I knew that Edward was frustrated by the nightmares. We were reluctant to prescribe any medication to help Seth sleep. We didn't want to develop any dependence on a sleep aid. We were also worried that a sleep aid could end up having a worse effect by trapping Seth within his nightmare without the ability to wake himself.

Tonight I was home, it was my first day off in a week, and would likely get firsthand experience with Seth's nightmares. Jacob had arrived an hour earlier and quietly sat on one of the sofas where he had promptly fallen asleep.

When he had arrived the first thing I noticed was how tired and exhausted he appeared. He refused any food, which was a first. His sleep was not restful, and was also plagued by nightmares from the appearance of his current dream. During the hour that Jacob had been here his dreams had revolved around the events of Sue and Leah's deaths, but had shifted more than once to Victoria trying to attack Seth.

It was hard to not pay attention to the dreams as they came over the connection with Edward. This new dream was different. The dreamer was entering a house and a voice called out, but I couldn't make out the words. The dream seemed to be moving in slow motion. The dreamer turned and focused on a pair of black eyes, as the room came into focus. I could now see that it was the Clearwater house and the black eyes belonged to James. He was holding Sue and she appeared to be yelling, but no words came from her mouth.

There was a flash of red and Victoria was standing in front of the dreamer, but the dream ended abruptly. Both Edward and I heard a loud scream from Seth's room. I was on my feet and flitted to Seth's room on the other side of the house. The door to his room was open. When I entered Seth was on the far side of the room sitting on the floor with his back to the wall and his knees pulled up to his chest. He was rocking back and forth with tears flowing down his face. I could feel his fear and terror from the dream.

"Seth?" I said softly as I sent him a wave of calming emotions. His head popped up and his eyes locked with mine. Fear even more pronounced than before engulfed him.

I should have been prepared for his reaction, and in hindsight coming into a dark room without turning on a light after someone has woken from a terrifying dream is probably not a good idea.

Seth tried to scramble further away from me, but the wall prevented his moment. I realized that in the dark I probably looked more like a vampire then at any other time that Seth has seen me.

He started shaking and his fear was spiking higher. I send him another wave of calm emotions, but did not move toward him.

'_Edward, wake Jacob.'_ I projected. I was loathsome to wake Jacob. I knew he needed his rest, but I was certain that Seth would respond better to Jacob then either Edward or me.

As I turned the light on I could hear Edward waking Jacob and tell him that Seth had woken from a nightmare and wouldn't let me near him. It took Jacob only a moment to get his bearings and rush into the room.

He rushed over to Seth and crouched down next to him. Seth threw his arms around Jacob and hugged him tightly. Jacob returned the hug and I could hear Seth sobbing as he held on to Jacob.

"Shh… It's okay. You're safe, Seth," Jacob said.

I sent another wave of calm and then quietly slipped from the room. Edward was waiting in the hallway after I had closed the door. Edward pulled me into a hug. I couldn't imagine how Edward had been dealing with this all week, and on his own.

"He wasn't afraid of you," Edward said, but I found that difficult to believe. I had felt the fear. "He just woke up from a nightmare, Jazz. When he saw you standing there he saw your hair and your eyes and thought for a moment that the vampire in his dreams was standing in the room."

"This is going to be harder than we thought," I whispered.

"We'll make it work. Seth's going to need some time to get used to living here," Edward replied.

"Edward, he needs someone to talk to. These dreams won't go away on their own, and neither of us is really qualified to be a therapist." I argued quietly.

"I know, Jazz, but where are we going to find someone who he can talk to? He can't go to a human therapist. We don't have that luxury with Seth," Edward reasoned.

I sighed as I pulled away from the hug. "I want to find out why James attacked the Clearwaters. I know it was to get back at us, but I want to know how he knew that going after them would hurt us."

"I think I may know," Edward said with a bit of hesitation.

I raise an eyebrow at him and waited for him to continue. Edward sighed, "After Seth's accident Riley was really proud of what we had accomplished. Not only had we saved Seth's life, but we had managed to break down some of the barriers with the Quileute tribe. He told Tanya about it, and she told Irina and Kate. I think Irina told Laurent."

That would be the kind of information that James could use against us. Perhaps he had hoped that it would cause a war between us and the wolf pack. Thankfully our relationship was strong, but now it feels very strained. In the end all this had done was to cost him his life, but not before he had taken the life of two innocents.

Edward and I finally ended up back on the sofa in the music room cuddling. There we stayed until the sun rose over the horizon. When we heard movement in Seth's room we began making breakfast.

Jacob had spent the rest of the night in Seth's room. I could tell by the look on his face that he didn't get much sleep.

"How's Seth?" I asked.

"He's in the shower. He thankfully slept the rest of the night; wish I could say the same for me," Jacob replied. His voice was filled with defeat.

"You look like the undead," I joked.

"You would know," Jacob replied then stuck his tongue out at me, but it was a half-hearted attempted at humor. The expression never reached his eyes.

"Don't stick your tongue out at me unless you intend to use it," I said with a serious expression.

I had expected a witty reply, but the lack of reaction was worrying. The normal witty reply or the blush coloring his cheeks was missing. Most times he'd have called me a pervert, but there was none of that.

Seth joined us as Edward was plating the food. He was quiet and appeared withdrawn. He barely touched his food. Jacob's appetite just didn't seem to be much better, which was very odd. He ate what was on his plate, but didn't go for seconds or thirds like he normally would. Edward frowned, but said nothing.

I was getting more concerned about Jacob. This behavior was so unlike him that it sent all kinds of red flags waving. I just didn't know how to approach it without making him defensive.

My concern for Seth was already there. We knew that he had his good days and bad days. This was a bad one and nothing we could do would get him to eat. "If you're not hungry, you don't have to eat it," I said.

Looking over at Edward I saw that he too was expressing his concern. I was now very curious to find out what had happened at the council meeting over a week ago. What has been said that would cause Jacob to go from a happy and outgoing person to one who seemed exhausted and defeated?

"Thank you for breakfast. I've got to get to work before Rosalie gets upset," Jacob said.

Now I knew something was seriously wrong. Rosalie never started work this early and she wouldn't care that much if Jacob showed up a few minutes late. She sometimes teased him about it, but it was all in good fun.

~ * ~ Change ~ * ~

POV: Edward

My concern for Seth and Jacob had not changed in the weeks since Jacob first stopped by the house. He had been coming several times a week and each time he looked more exhausted and worn down. His hair was longer and his eyes were hallow. It was unnerving to watch him slowly falling apart.

Jacob wouldn't talk to me, nor would he talk to Jasper about it. All he would say is that he had been patrolling. No one in the family had seen anyone from La Push that we might be able to get answers from since the funerals. I had heard the thoughts from some of the council members toward my family. They were arrogant fools.

I had caught small glimpses of the last council meeting and I was disgusted by their behavior. I knew that Ephraim would never have stood for such behavior. They were taking advantage of Jacob's age and his lack of leadership experience. I had only seen bits and pieces, but what I had seen was a cause for concern.

I had taken my bike to work today, and was beginning a long four day weekend. Jasper had started his when he arrived home this morning. We both seriously need a couple of days to ourselves. Riley and Alice had been kind enough to agree to watch over Seth while we went away to hunt, and have a bit of personal time.

It feels like a lifetime since Jasper and I have been more intimate than a kiss here or there. This weekend I planned to ride my husband until neither of us could walk. I planned to forget everything and just enjoy the moment with him.

"I'll see you in five days, Angela," I said as I walked pass the nurse's station on my way out.

"Enjoy your time off Edward," She replied.

I nodded, and continued on out the door as my phone started ringing. I was surprised to see Rosalie calling me.

"Hello…"

"Edward, get over here quick! Jacob passed out ten minutes ago and he won't wake up!" Rosalie said frantically into the phone.

I threw on my helmet and barely got my phone in my pocket before jumping on my bike. I started it up and took off toward Rosalie's shop. It took me less than three minutes to reach her shop. It was very close to the hospital. I had at least kept enough frame of mind to know that running there would have likely caught someone's attention.

I rushed into the building and threw off my helmet. "Back here!" Rosalie yelled.

"What happened?" I asked as I rushed over to where she was crouching over an unconscious Jacob.

"I don't know. One minute he was completely fine and then he whispered something about being dizzy. I barely made it to him before he passed out. I caught him and laid him down, but he hasn't responded to anything I've done to get him to wake up," Rosalie replied. She gestured over to the pile of smelling salts from the first aid kit.

I noticed several things as I approached Jacob. First he was sweating profusely, which was very odd considering the room was cool. The next thing I noticed was his body temperature was much higher than normal, even for him.

"I need ice, and lots of it," I said as I picked Jacob up and rushed him into the locker room. My first thought was to get his body temperature down. I knew it was high, too high. Rosalie pulled out her phone and started calling someone in the family, most likely Alice or Jasper. Once in the locker room I laid Jacob down on the floor of the shower and turned it on all full set on cold.

I quickly began stripping him out of his clothes, but left him in his boxer briefs. I stripped down to mine then got in with him and picked him up so he was standing. I pressed my cold body against him to help bring his temperature down. I angled the two shower heads to point at his chest and cool his core.

"Jasper is on his way. He said that Alice and Riley already left to get ice," Rosalie said. "What can I do?"

"I need a thermometer. I have to find out his body temperature," I replied.

"I got it," Jasper said as he rushed in carrying two large orange medical kits. Alice and Riley ran in after him carrying several bags of ice. They must have already been on the way here.

Riley arranged the bags on the floor of the shower behind me and then I lowered Jacob it them as Jasper stuck a thermometer in Jacob's mouth. He then grabbed supplies from one of the kits to draw blood.

"Carlisle is waiting for it back at the house. Alice saw everything happen," Jasper explained. "Lay on him and keep get his body temperature down."

I did as instructed and that is when I noticed that the thermometer was reading one-hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit. Normally wolves maintain a temperature of one-hundred and eight. This temperature could very well be lethal. Humans typically were considered to have a lethal body temperature at one-hundred and four degrees. I didn't know if the same temperature difference would apply to wolves.

I looked at Jasper and he his expression showed that he was terrified. As soon as he had two vials full of Jacob's blood he tossed them to Riley. "RUN!"

Riley was gone in the blink of an eye. "Jazz?"

"I don't know. Alice only saw black," Jasper said. He didn't stop to explain anything. He immediately started putting an IV in Jacob's arm and started him on fluids. "Just get his body temperature down."

The ice behind Jacob was melting rapidly, but his temperature didn't feel like it was decreasing at a quick enough pace, in my opinion.

"I've got the Range Rover ready," Alice said as she rushed back into the room.

Jasper finished up with the IV and I rolled off of Jacob. He picked him up and flitted out of the room, into the repair bays where Alice had backed the Ranger Rover. I followed after Jasper and climbed into the back of the Ranger Rover.

Alice had laid down a rubber tarp and covered it with bags of ice. Jasper and I got Jacob settled as Rosalie jumped into the driver's seat. "I'll clean up here and bring your kit back home," Alice said before closing the back hatch. There was hardly any room for both Jasper and I in the back with Jacob.

I laid back down and pressed my cold body against Jacob while Jasper began injecting him with various medications that should have woken him up. "His heart rate is accelerated," I said. I don't know why I hadn't picked up on it before. I must have been too focused on his body temperature.

Jasper looked at me for a brief moment and then grabbed a vial of Nitroglycerin and measured out 10 CC. He injected it into the IV line to dilute it and then quickly measured out another 10 CC. He repeated the process four times until I told him to stop. Jacob's heart rate had decreased. It was closer to what would be considered normal for him.

A few minutes later Rosalie came to a stop in front of the main house. Demetri and Emmett were waiting for us. They got the back hatch open and grabbed hold of the rubber tarp and pulled it toward them.

"Carlisle is in the lab. We've got one of the downstairs bedrooms setup with all the medical equipment for Jacob," Emmett said.

"Esme got you some clothes, Edward. It's in the downstairs bathroom," Demetri added.

"Get changed and then come help me," Jasper ordered. He leapt out of the truck, and I followed. Emmett and Demetri each took a side of the tarp and carried Jacob into the house.

I rushed into the house and into the bathroom. I stripped off my water soaked underwear. I dried off and then quickly dressed.

Jasper was in the room alone with Jacob. He was hooking him up to all the various monitoring equipment. "His temperature is down to one-hundred and twelve."

"What can I do to help?" I asked.

"Call his dad, maybe he can help us figure out what is wrong with Jacob," Jasper replied as he tossed me his phone.

I dialed the number to Jacob's home and waited as it rang three times before it was answered.

"Hello?" said a female voice.

"This is Dr. Edward Cullen, I need to speak to Billy; it's about Jacob."

"He's not here right now. Is this important?" the woman asked.

"Is this Rachel?"

"Yes."

"Rachel, I need you to find your dad. Jacob collapsed at work and he won't wake up. His temperature is elevated, and there are other things wrong with him."

"Oh god, Is he going to be okay?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know. I need your dad to come here. Maybe he'll be able to help us figure out what is wrong with Jacob."

"Paul, go find my dad. Jacob is not well," Rachel said. "We'll get my dad and be there soon. I don't know where you live."

Before I could reply with direction I heard Paul say he knew where we lived. "Hurry, time is critical," I said.

Rachel hung up with me and I turned to Jasper. "Jazz?"

"Heart rate is still elevated, even for him. Temperature is holding at one-hundred and twelve, but I want to get him in the setup with the cooling pads," Jasper replied.

The pads were more like a blanket that could be setup to pump cold water through it. It could also be used to warm a person up.

Thirty minutes later we had Jacob finally situated. We were still waiting for Billy, and for the results of the test that Carlisle was running in the lab.

It was about this time that I remember about Seth. "Where's Seth?" I felt horrible for forgetting about it. I was turning out to be a lousy parent.

"He's fine," Alice said as she entered the room. "He's in the kitchen with Esme. No one's told him what is going on, yet. I thought one of you would prefer to do it."

"I'll do it," Jasper said immediately. I wanted to argue that I would go do it, but Jasper was already halfway out of the room.

I turned and looked at Jacob as he lay motionless on the bed. It was during this time that I took a really good look at him that I noticed all the changes in him. He looked exhausted, and like he had lost muscle mass.

"He looks so different," Alice said.

"He's lost muscle mass, and his face has that exhausted look too it," I replied.

"His future has been fuzzy lately, but I didn't know why. I just assumed it was his shifting genes finally blocking me," Alice said.

"Are you sure that isn't why his future is black?" I asked.

Alice shook her head, "No this is different than with the other wolves. This… this is like death."

"For once in my life, Alice. I hope you are wrong," I said.

"You're not the only one," Alice replied.

"Billy is here."

Alice left to let them in. I heard her greet them and then direct them to the room. Paul entered the room carrying Billy. I quickly grabbed a chair and placed it by Jacob's bed. Paul set Billy down in the chair and then stepped back.

"What's wrong with him?" Billy asked.

"We don't know," I sighed. "He collapsed at work. Rosalie was quick enough to catch him before he fell, so we know he didn't hit his head. She called me and I rushed over to her shop. His body temperature was above one-hundred twenty and when we check it, but it's now down to one-hundred and twelve."

"How, is that possible? Our temperature doesn't change. We don't get sick," Paul said.

"I don't know, but that's not all. His heart rate was accelerated, even for wolf. We had to use Nitroglycerin to get it closer to normal. I don't think it was a heart attack, but we can't rule that out. The monitor is still showing that his heart muscle is strong.

Carlisle is running test on his blood to see if there is some sort of infection, or virus or something."

"What can I do to help?" Billy asked.

"We need to know if this has ever happened before to any of the wolves. We need to know as much as you can tell us so we can find out the cause," I answered.

"This has never happened before to my knowledge. Jacob never been one to get sick, and he's never had health problems," Billy replied.

Carlisle entered the room at that moment. "There is no infection in his blood, or anything abnormal. The only thing I could find was vitamin and mineral deficiencies, but those would not cause these symptoms."

"He's been working himself to death," Paul said. "I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen to me. He kept saying that everything was his fault. Everyone was fucking blaming him for Sue and Leah, and he took it to heart."

"I need you to explain what you mean by working himself to death. How far has he been pushing himself?" Carlisle asked.

"He patrols almost every night from two in the morning until seven. The only nights he doesn't patrol is when he is with Seth. I know that he works until three in the afternoon and then goes back on patrol until ten, sometimes eleven. He usually gets an hour or two of sleep before starting all over again," Paul answered.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Billy asked.

"I tired. The council told me to mind my own fucking business and then Jacob ordered me to keep quiet about it," Paul replied angrily.

"Paul, calm down," Rachel said as she touched his shoulder.

"Why would he go to such extremes?" I asked. I was starting to have a feeling that maybe the council meeting had caused more harm than I had previously thought.

"Because the council told him he was failure. They said it was all his fault that Sue and Leah are dead. They rip into him about being friends with all of you, and basically accused him of betraying his people to the cold ones. There isn't anything they didn't say to him," Paul said. "And you," - Paul was now looking at Billy, - "just sat there while they tore him apart."

Billy didn't say anything, but he had the sense of mind to look embarrassed.

Rachel looked her father as if she couldn't believe what Paul was saying. "Is that true?"

Billy didn't answer. He was looking at his son, and I could see tears forming in his eyes.

"How is it that you are able to tell us about all this, Paul? You said Jacob order you to keep quiet," Jasper asked as he entered the room.

Paul looked stunned. "I'm not sure. I shouldn't have been able to say anything." I could hear Paul's thoughts as he tried to work out how he had managed to disobey and Alpha order.

Carlisle said, "It appears we have more questions than answers."

"I think we need to treat Jacob as a case of stress induced exhaustion with potential cardiac arrest," Jasper said.

"Edward, your thoughts?" Carlisle asked.

"I agree with Jasper, but I also think we should treat him for malnutrition. The few times he ate at our house he ate a lot less than normal, and I think he's lost muscle mass. He may have been starving himself."

Carlisle nodded, and then left the room. He turned a few minutes later with a half dozen IV fluid bags. He added a second IV line in Jacob's right arm. Jasper had already set one up in his left. We then split the bags between the two IV lines.

"Now we wait," Carlisle said.

"How long?" Billy asked.

Carlisle sighed, "I don't know. We honestly don't know enough about what happened to make any guesses on how long before we might see any improvement."

"If there is any improvement," Jasper added. Billy looked over at Jasper.

"There is no guarantee that he will improve. You need to ready yourself for that possibility. We'll do what we can, but this is beyond even our ability to fix," Jasper said.

'_He has no one to blame but himself if he loses his son,'_ Jasper's thoughts projected to me with a bitter tone.

I couldn't bring myself to disagree with Jasper.

"Perhaps someone should information the council," Rachel suggested.

"No." Paul said. "I will not let those vultures near him."

"That's not your call," Billy said.

"Don't bet on it old man. Jacob made me his Beta, and our laws are very clear on succession," Paul replied.

"Sam is Beta," Billy argued.

"No. Sam gave that position up when Emily became pregnant. Jacob chose me to take over as Beta."

"What are you all arguing about?" Rachel asked.

"Rachel, you know that Jacob is Alpha and High Chief of the Tribe. The Beta is second in command of the wolf pack, and is also a chief of the tribe. Only Jacob out ranks me."

"Why don't you want to tell the council about Jacob?" Rachel asked.

"Because the council has no authority. They are advisors and nothing more, but what they did to Jacob was going beyond that. It should never have been allowed to happen," Paul replied.

No one said anything further. Although I knew from the thoughts of my family that they were all concerned about Jacob, and all wanted to know what had happened at the council meeting.

I managed to get Paul alone and ask him about the council meeting. We took a walk down by the river to get away from the mood in the house.

"You said this started after the council meeting, what happened?" I asked.

"I'm not sure how much Jacob has told you about our people and how we are governed now that we have a chief," Paul began.

"Most of what we know we learned from Ephraim," I replied.

"Well, the easiest way to explain it is that Jacob is chief and his word is law. It doesn't matter if anyone disagrees with him, or at least it shouldn't. No one has the authority to override anything he says, nor can they treat him with as much disrespect as was shown at the last council meeting."

Paul stopped and looked out into the forest. "Jacob is our Alpha and in a pack everyone obeys the Alpha. He submits to no one, not even the council. We all submit to him, because he is chosen by the spirits to lead our people. It is considered a great dishonor upon tribe when anyone disrespects the chosen one of the spirits."

"So why would anyone show him any disrespect?" I asked. I had a few ideas, but I wanted to her Paul's thoughts on the subject.

Paul snorted, "You must have some thoughts of your own on the subject."

"I do, but I wanted to see if they match your thoughts," I replied.

"His friendship with your family has left strained emotions on the council. There are some who view his actions as a betrayal of our people and our ways. Those same people believe he doesn't spend enough time attending to his duties. So they want to see him cowed into submission before them. What they don't realize is that the spirits will not tolerate such behavior," Paul answered.

"You say that as if you are sure they would retaliate."

"This is difficult to explain, but it has to do with how the shifters came into existence. The first Alpha was Taha Aki. He was a spirit warrior whose body was stolen. He wondered the spirit world where he was trapped until he finally met a wolf. There is more to the story, but after a time Taha Aki asked the wolf to make room for him within his body. The wolf agreed, and Taha Aki returned to the village. He was so angered by what he saw that he transformed from the wolf into a man and all the tribe knew he was the true Taha Aki."

Paul turned to me, "When we first change we gain our spirit wolf, our guide. We only feel his presence when we are in wolf form. He guides us and teaches us how to be a wolf, how to be a protector of our people. We maintain control, but he is there always watching and guiding."

"So your spirit wolf told you the spirits were angry?" I asked.

"Not so much with words or thoughts, but his emotions. He is angry, and he's not the only one. Everyone in the pack has mention that the anger coming from their spirit wolves has become very intense. Old Quil said it is because the spirits and ancestors are angry. He was the only one who tried to defend Jacob at the council meeting. They should have listened to him."

"Has this every happened before?"

"No. No one has ever challenges the Alpha. To challenge the Alpha is to fight to the death. There can only be one and no one ever makes that challenge," Paul answered.

Paul looked away, "I should have said something. I should have stood up for him, but I didn't. I was so shocked by what the council was doing that I couldn't speak. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't find the words… I was also scared they might attack me too. I don't deal well with anger."

"What did they say?"

Paul looked at me and I could see his eyes showing fierce anger within them. "They call him a traitor to his people. Told him that the deaths of Sue and Leah were his fault because he had befriended our enemy. They told him that Ephraim would be appalled by his behavior were he still alive."

"I see," I said; but Paul wasn't done.

"They told him he needed to stop spending all his time at his job and fulfill his duties. When he tried to tell them that he needs the job to pay for his needs, food, clothing, etc they told him that there were plenty of animals in the forest. When he tried to defend the patrol schedule they told him he wasn't patrolling enough. They could see the injuries he sustained from killing that bastard, but they didn't care. They were out for to exact a pound of flesh from him, and they did. He took everything they said to heart, because that is who he is. Jacob cares more about everyone around him then himself."

Paul's fist were clenched tightly, "I need to go."

He darted into the forest and a moment later there was a dark gray wolf running deep into the forest.

I turned to see Demetri standing on the porch looking into the forest. "I had once wondered why all of you try to imitate human life. All I have seen of humans are the vile things they do to each other. It wasn't until I joined all of you that I truly understood that not all humans were so vile and disgusting. You can almost forget that such behavior exists, but when it happens to someone you know it truly hits home."

~ * ~ Change ~ * ~

POV: Jacob

I felt cold and lost. I did not know where I was other then it was deep within a forest. It looked familiar, but it could have been anywhere in the northern hemisphere from the types of trees around. In the distance I could see a bright glowing light from a campfire. I felt drawn to it.

The walk to the campsite was long and tiring. When I reached the site I was exhausted, cold, and so hungry; but I was too weak to do anything about it. I barely made it into the tent before collapsing from the exhaustion.

I don't know how much time passed, but I was no longer cold when I awoke. I felt a warm body pressing against me. When I turned my head I saw a large russet colored wolf lying pressed against me. The wolf's eyes showed kindness.

'_Be not afraid, young one. I am Neurion, the spirit of the Alpha.' _The Wolf said, but his mouth did not move. I realized that I had heard the thoughts in my head.

"Where am I?" I asked aloud.

'_You are in the spirit world, young one. You had become too ill for me to heal you in your world. I have brought you here to heal your body and __mind,__ and to teach you,' Neurion replied._

I had been pushing myself to the extremes trying to please everyone else. I had mostly disregarded my own health. My thoughts were interrupted when I saw anger flash in Neurion's eyes.

'_Foolish child, we are the Alpha. We do not submit to anyone,' _Neurion's eyes turned gentle. _'I am at fault for your failure child. I forced your change before it was time. I feared for your life, but you were saved by the one called Jasper. We did not know he would intervene, or we would not have forced your change.'_

"You mean in Seattle, when I was at the dance club," I said.

'_Yes. We were angry that he let the cold ones leave, but grateful that he saved you.'_

My stomach chose that moment to remind me that I had not been eating properly and that it demanded food. I could hear Neurion's amused laughter in my mind.

'_Come young one, the __others__ have prepared your meal.'_

"The others?" I had not felt the presence of any other beings.

'_The spirits of the ancestors. They came while you slept and prepared a meal for you, it is outside being kept warm on the fire," Neurion answered._

There was food waiting outside just as Neurion had said. Over the campfire was a spit which held a fully cooked rabbit. I sat down on a fur blanket that was a short distance from the fire. Beside the blanket was a wooden bowl that contains fruit and nuts. There was also a knife and wooden plate, which I used to serve up the rabbit.

Neurion laid down beside me. _'Eat your fill, young one. We have much to discuss. I must teach you much in the short time we have together in this world.'_

I did as I was told and ate my fill. My stomach hadn't been this happy in weeks. Neurion grumbled something within my thoughts in a language I did not understand. From the tone I could deduce that he was not pleased with my behavior in the living world.

~ * ~ Change ~ * ~

POV: Jasper

A week had passed and Jacob had not woken. We had all become more concerned with each passing day. Edward more so than the rest of us. He had told me privately that Jacob had no thoughts coming from his mind. He feared that we were keeping alive a body whose spirit was gone.

'_There are always thoughts coming from him, and other humans when they sleep. I could always hear his dreams. There is nothing there, Jazz.'_ The pain in Edward's voice had matched the pain in his emotions. Both of us worried that we'd done something wrong, or that we were quick enough to help Jacob.

The family took turns sitting with Jacob. We read to him, talk to him, listened to music with him, but he did not react to any of it. We persisted anyway in the vain hope that it might be helping.

It was my turn to sit with him. The rest of the family except for Rosalie and Riley had gone hunting. Seth and Riley were playing video games. I knew that neither of them had their heart in the game. Riley did it to distract Seth from everything that was going on.

I had to give it to Riley. He had really stepped up to help Edward and me with Seth. He had become like an older brother for Seth.

"No change?" Rosalie asked upon entering the room. I shook my head negatively.

"You'll figure it out, Jazz. I know you will."

"I don't think so, Rose. This isn't something I can fix. A broken bone, a cut, an ear infection; those things I can fix, but this is something I don't know how to fix. I don't even know if it can be fixed," I lamented.

"It can be fixed!" Rosalie said with a sudden spike of passion. In a quieter voice she added, "He can't die, not like this."

"Edward is starting to think it may be too late. I… I'm starting to agree with him."

"He's wrong! Look at Jacob. He's getting strong physically," Rosalie argued.

"That's because we're giving him nutrients, and fluids to keep him alive," I argued back.

"No. I've been to medical school just like you, Jasper. Open your eyes and really look this isn't some fucking nutrient pack. This is real change. His muscle mass is nearly back to what it was a month ago. His heart rate is back to normal for a wolf, and so is his temperature," Rosalie explained.

Rosalie was right about the changes. Jacob had been getting stronger since the day after he had collapsed. I had seen the changes, but I was scared to grab on to those and hope he was getting better.

"We just need to give him more time. Something else is at work healing him. Something that we don't understand."

"I've seen the changes Rose, but I don't want to give into false hope. What if he never wakes up?" I asked.

"He will! He has too!" Rosalie said with emotion.

This was completely uncharacteristic for Rosalie. She wasn't one to express her emotions in this way. A lot of people view her as a spoiled bitch, but deep down Rosalie does care about other people. She has just never been good about expressing those emotions.

"We just need to find a way to reach him," Rosalie said sadly.

~ * ~ Change ~ * ~

POV: Jacob

Neurion and I did not speak much the first day. He insisted that I rest and build my strength. We would speak the next day.

After another meal early the next day Neurion and I walked into the forest. He showed me many beautiful places, and some of them I recognized as places near La Push.

'_We are the Alpha, young one.'_ Neurion began. I knew that when he said _we_ he meant he and I.

'_I was meant to teach you the ways of the Alpha before your change was complete, but that did not occur because I forced it. I did not prepare you for the challenges that __lay__ ahead of you,' _Neurion explained.

I could tell that he felt responsible for my failures.

'_I am the spirit of the Alpha, the wolf that Taha Aki, your great ancestor, merged with many long years ago. I have journeyed through time and guided each Alpha that follow after him,'_ Neurion said.

"You were the spirit wolf of my great-grandfather?" I asked.

'_Yes, I guided Ephraim. He would be very proud of you. Do not let anyone tell __you differently__ young one. They do not know the true mind of Ephraim the way I do. We were one and I possess all his memories.'_

"Do you possess the memories of all the Alphas that came before me?"

'_Yes. You do not realize this, but I have passed some of those memories on to you through wisdom. How to lead the pack, how to fight the cold ones, how to judge another person's true intentions. All those things I have passed on to you. Though you did not always heed my advice.'_

I knew what he was referring too. "When I fought Laurent."

'_Yes. You were foolish and reckless, young one. You should have allowed the others to help you. You must learn that vengeance is a dangerous __emotion__ and to allow it to cloud your mind weakens you. I know what he did to your mother, but you must remember that to give into your passion for revenge could be your downfall.'_

"I was just so angry. He took my mother and tried to take my father from me. I couldn't think clearly when I smelt him. I just wanted to rip him apart. I wanted to be the one to end him," I said.

'_I understand young one, but you must not allow your passions to control you.'_

I nodded.

~ * ~ Change ~ * ~

POV: Riley

I had overheard the conversation between Rosalie and Jasper, but I had not allowed it to distract me from the video game that I was playing with Seth. He had been unaware of the discussion going on down the hall from us.

It wasn't until much later that evening that I took time to really think about what they had said. Rosalie was adamant that Jacob was getting better, and even Jasper admitted to see the improvements; but he was reluctant to take it as a sign that Jacob would wake up.

If I were being completely honest with myself I was sooner agree with Jasper than Rosalie, but she did make several important observations. Jacob should not have been gaining muscle mass. He was lying in a bed. Humans typically lose muscle mass if they do not continue to exercise it. He had regained what he had lost over the course of a month from starving himself.

Yet, it wasn't any of this that I was really thinking about it was the last comment that Rosalie had made. _'We just need to find a way to reach him.'_

'_What if there was way to reach him. What if…'_

"Edward!"

~ * ~ Change ~ * ~

POV: Jacob

Each day after breakfast Neurion would take me on a walk through the forest. I now understood that while we're in the spirit world we could still see the world of the living, but our interaction with it was limited.

Today Neurion taught me what it means to be Alpha.

'_You are wise for one so young, but you still have much to learn. To be the Alpha means more than to lead. It means to understand that not all things are written into stone. Writing in stone can be changed with a chisel. Black and white can be mixed to make gray. This much you comprehend, and you have shown this through your friendship.'_

"You mean my friendship with the Cullens?" I reasoned.

'_Yes. The yellow eyes are powerful allies, and can be trusted. I spoke of this to Ephraim when he agreed to the treaty with Carlisle. He would be proud that you have formed an alliance with them.'_

"But I haven't formed an alliance with them. They are only my friends." I replied.

'_Perhaps there is no formal alliance, but they have come to your aid on more than one occasion. Even if it is only friendship you have still accomplished what no other has in all of history. You have united two of the most powerful supernatural races on Earth.'_

"The council doesn't seem to think it's such a good thing." I said bitterly.

Perhaps bring up the council was a bad idea, Neurion grew angry. _'They have no say in the governance of our people. No council shall ever lead our people again. The spirits have decided that a chief shall always exist among the tribe.'_

"If there are no vampires there are no wolves. No wolves, no chief. When the Cullens leave most of the pack will stop phasing. There will be no chief after me unless more vampires come."

Neurion called out in the language he had used before that I did not understand. After a moment a dark gray wolf appeared before him. The wolf bowed its head to Neurion, who acknowledged the gesture of submission.

'_I am Nibenon, your Beta.' _The gray wolf said.

"You're Paul's spirit wolf?" I asked.

'_Yes. I guide him and teach him like Neurion teaches and guides you.'_ Nibenon replied.

'_Nibenon has been the Beta of our people for any many generations as I have been Alpha. He was most aggrieved when he learned that Eruestan was Beta instead of him,' Neurion added._

"I didn't mean to offend you," I said to Nibenon.

'_It__ was I who had earned your displeasure. I did not know that your change had not gone according to plan. I was busy preparing Paul when you were changed," _Nibenon replied.

'_I have asked Nibenon to joins us so that we may explain to you what the future holds for the leadership of our people,' _Neurion said.

'_The chief of our people shall continue to be a descendant of the line of Black," _Nibenon said.

I was about to say that I found that difficult to believe since I was gay, but Nibenon continued to speak.

'_My intended would have been Leah, but the future changed and she was killed. She was supposes to run with Seth, but she dismissed Yerathiel's guidance and tried to save her mother.'_

I assumed that Yerathiel was Leah's spirit wolf.

'_When the council attacked you, the spirits of our ancestors raged at the dishonor. They vowed that no council would ever be allowed to disrespect them again. They have chosen to extend the magic in the line of Black so that there will always be a chief,' Nibenon continued._

"How? I am unlikely to ever have children of my own."

Neurion chuckled as did Nibenon. _'Not you young one.' _Neurion said. _'Your sister Rachel shall bear the next chief of your people, and he shall be the son of Nibenon.'_

I realized that this meant Paul was about to become family. I honestly wasn't sure how I felt about that.

'_His son shall be guided by Marcunon, the child of Yerathiel and I,'_ added Nibenon.

'_You, young one shall be High Chief of your people until the end of your days," Neurion continued. "But you will not stay with them. You will come and go for ages to come. Your destiny lies elsewhere, and I shall be there to guide you every step of the way,' _Neurion explained.

'_No matter where you __go__ or how far away from the tribe you live there will always be a wolf and chief in La Push. The spirits have tied the new magic to you.' Nibenon further explained._

~ * ~ Change ~ * ~

POV: Riley

I found Edward in the music room playing the piano. Esme was sitting on the sofa knitting a blanket. I waited for Edward to finish his song before I started in on my idea.

"I think I know how we can reach Jacob. I don't know if it will work, but I think it's worth a try," I said.

"Go on."

"As you know we've been reading to him, talking, playing music and so on. What if that isn't how we reach, what if we need to go into his mind to reach him," I said.

"You're suggesting we project to him?" Edward reasoned.

"Exactly. We gather everyone in the room with him. You gather up everyone's thoughts and share them with me and I will project them into his mind," I said.

"That could work," Esme said.

"I don't know." Edward said. I knew he was concerned that this wouldn't work.

"We won't know if we don't try. Maybe we can get through, maybe we can't but we just can't sit here not doing something that could help," I argued.

"I just don't want to get everyone's hopes up. Jacob got hurt by the people he loves. How do we know that if he can hear us that he doesn't try to go deeper into his own mind to escape," Edward argued back.

"Edward, he's already deep within his mind. You can't hear his thoughts. We need to remind him that there are still people here that love him. Some of them may need to ask forgiveness, but that shouldn't stop from at least trying."

"Riley is right, Edward. We should at least try." Esme agreed.

"If Jasper and Carlisle agree then we can try," Edward finally agreed with a sigh. "But we should warn everyone not to get their hopes too high."

~ * ~ Change ~ * ~

POV: Jacob

'_You are fully healed young one and it will soon be __time__ to return to the world of the living,'_ Neurion said after I'd been with him for a week. Each day he thought me something new and gave me the confidence I had been lacking within myself.

"How do I find you again if I need advice?" I asked.

'_You will be able to call upon me no matter which form you are in. I shall guide you, and protect you always. I will journey with you to the world of the living when you return,'_ Neurion answered.

As we walked I started to recognize where we were. We were near the Sol Duc River, not far from where the Cullens lived. As we got closer the breeze carried a voice.

'_Jacob, I don't know if you can hear me. I don't know if this will even work, but it's all we've got left.'_ It was Riley's voice.

'_They are calling you home, young one.'_ Neurion said.

'_Jacob, I'm sorry that I didn't stand up to defend you before the council. I didn't do a very good job as your Beta. You're right you know… about the Cullens. They are good people, they've been doing everything they can to help you. Come back to us, Jake.' _This time it was Paul's voice.

I felt bad about ordering him not to tell anyone about what had happened, or what I'd been doing to myself.

'_Foolish child, but perhaps you have learned your lesson,' _Neurion mused.

"I think I have." I replied.

'_Jacob, please don't blame yourself for what happened to Mom and Leah. They'd be upset to know you thought it was your fault. It wasn't! Please come back, Jake. I need… please come __back;__ I don't want to be all alone.'_ Seth's voice broke my heart.

I cared about Seth more than anyone knew. I worried about him, and only wanted his happiness.

'_He would have made an excellent shifter,'_ Neurion said.

I realized that I had followed the voices and it had led me to the Cullen's home.

'_You need to wake up, mutt. Who else am I going to pick on if you aren't around?' _I couldn't help the chuckle that I let slip by my lips. _'If you come back I'll promise never to make another bad comment about that lousy Rabbit you use to drive. At least now you have a real car. You are smart and your ideas on car concepts are really amazing. I really enjoy building cars with you.'_

"I will I remember any of this when I wake up?" I asked Neurion.

He chuckled, _'You will remember all that happened here.'_

"Excellent!" Rosalie was so going to regret saying that.

We entered the house and found everyone gathered around my body which lay in a bed. I could see that they had me hooked up to all kinds of monitoring equipment.

'_If you come back to us, Jacob, I promise to help convince Jasper and Edward to give into your fantasy.'_ I groaned as Alice mentioned my little fantasy about Jasper and Edward. It wasn't my fault I thought they were hot. I'm sure I'd be blushing if I were in my body.

'_I'm sorry that I have not been a better father to you, Jacob. I have let the hate I felt from your mother's death cloud my judgment. You are a good boy, and you are right about the Cullens. They aren't our enemy like the council claims. They wouldn't be going to such extremes to bring you back to us if they were. I'm sorry.'_

My father was crying. He was not a man to express his emotions, and I'd so rarely seen him cry.

A bright flash engulf the whole room…

~ * ~ Change ~ * ~

POV: Jasper.

Edward and Riley had explained their plan. Carlisle was quick to agree, and I did too with some hesitation. It took us an hour to get everyone gathered around Jacob's bed.

Riley had explained to everyone what we planned to do, but also stressed this was a shot in the dark and may not help. Everyone agreed that we should at least try.

We positioned ourselves so that Riley and Edward were on opposite sides of each other. Riley on the left and Edward on the right. They linked their left and right hands and placed their palms on Jacob's forehead. Alice held Riley's right hand and together they held on to Jacob's left hand. Edward and I mirrored this on Jacob's right side.

Demetri and Carlisle had discussed our plan with Eleazar and he suggested this layout saying it would amplify our gifts.

We then had Billy holding my hand, followed by Seth, Carlisle, Rosalie, Paul, and finally Rachel finished off the circle by holding Alice's hand. Esme, Demetri and Emmett did not join in the circle, but did stay in the room.

Riley and Edward closed their eyes as I filled them with calm emotions. I could see the expression of determination on Riley's face. One by one we each spoke through our thoughts to Jacob.

When Riley started project I felt a jolt pass through my hands, but no one commented on it. As each person took their turn an intense connection seemed to form. There was a strong surge when Billy finished speaking. None of us were prepared for the shock the followed.

"Dad…" Jacob said in a harsh voice.

When I looked at Jacob's face his eyes were open. He looked exhausted, but very much alive.

"Jacob?" Billy said.

Jacob tried to speak again, but his voice was too hoarse from lack of moisture. "Water…"

"Here, drink this," Edward said. He had released my hand and filled a cup with water. Riley and Edward helped Jacob sit up and allowed him to drink from the cup.

"How come he gets to drink water? All I got was ice chips," Seth complained, but you could tell he was relieved to see Jacob awake.

Jacob pushed the cup away. "I'm special."

"Good to see he hasn't lost his wit," Rosalie said.

"Don't think I'll forget your promise, Blondie." Jacob replied hoarsely.

Rosalie and everyone else for that matter seemed shocked that it had actually worked. Riley was feeling a great deal of pride. He had been right.

"You shouldn't speak too much, Jacob," Carlisle said.

Jacob reached out for his Dad's hand. Billy immediately took it and you could see the tears of relief sliding down his face. "I'm so sorry, Jacob."

"You're forgiven, old man. I'm sorry I worried everyone. It was stupid," Jacob said.

"You're damn right it was stupid," Paul said.

"Not you too. I got enough of that all week from Neurion," Jacob replied.

Everyone looked at Jacob confused. "Long story."

"Welcome back little brother," Rachel said as he took Jacob's free hand. "If you ever scare us like that again I'm going to have Paul kick your ass."

Jacob snorted, "I wouldn't bet on that."

"I think it would be best if we don't overwhelm, Jacob. I know everyone wants to be supportive, but let's give Rachel and Billy time alone with Jacob," I said. I then turned to Jacob, "I'll be back in a bit to check on you and make sure everything is normal. Not too much talking, we'll get you a pad and pen so you can write instead of speaking."

"Thanks," Jacob said.

Everyone slowly exited the room, "Hey pixie!" Jacob called out to Alice.

Alice turned to face Jacob, "I expect you to make good on your promise."

Edward and Riley both groaned. "Trust me, you don't want to know." Edward said as he ushered me out of the room.

A/N: I'd love to hear your reviews on this chapter!


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